Transportation Matters FOR Iowa

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series related to our 5-year priority goal of “Supporting a Culture of Innovation” at the Iowa Department of Transportation. We are working to find innovative ways to improve processes, tools, & relationships to create positive experiences for our customers.

When you think of a work zone, an image of pavement work or bridge construction behind a line of orange cones with workers and construction equipment might come to mind. These stationary work zones are often in place for a period of time and are easily found on the 511 system (www.511ia.org and the Iowa 511 app). But many work zones like those for simple maintenance or line painting move slowly down the road. This makes the work zones difficult for you to track on 511 and the workers in those work zones are more vulnerable to being hit by drivers who may not expect to see them on the road.

Did you know that stopping to use the restroom at Iowa’s newest rest area gives you the chance to learn about Native American culture that preceded us by nearly 800 years?

If you have visited one of Iowa’s next-generation rest areas, you’ll notice that each one has a theme and information to help you learn more about what makes Iowa unique. 

The planners, engineers, and designers tasked with creating these rest areas not only provide a place to safely stop and rest but also tap into a wealth of historical information to help you understand the very deep roots of our great state.

Which lane should you be in when driving on a four-lane highway?  From the comments we get on social media, slow left-lane drivers are a major pet peeve. But what’s the real safety story?

All drivers are safest when they are traveling at a safe speed. Driving too fast or too slow based on the speed of the others around you can increase the danger for everyone in the area.

Do you feel lucky? Every time you pick up your phone when you’re driving, you’re rolling the dice with your own life and the lives of those on the road with you.

Research by Texas A&M Transportation Institute notes that texting doubles your reaction time, which means you respond more slowly in an emergency. The research consisted of drivers maneuvering around a test track, once without texting and then again while texting while measuring reaction time to lights on the course.

Getting behind the wheel of a huge orange truck for the first time can be pretty intimidating. These complicated machines take a great deal of skill to operate effectively. Throw in skid loaders, mini excavators, and other pieces of equipment, and our highway staff of all levels need to be highly skilled and receive excellent training to get everything done to keep you safer on Iowa’s highways.

One fun and effective way to get the training our field forces need is through competition. This year our Maintenance Bureau brought back a traditional training tool, the Truck Roadeo.

Editor’s note: This post is part of a series related to our 5-year priority goal of “Supporting a Culture of Innovation” at the Iowa Department of Transportation. We are working to find innovative ways to improve processes, tools, & relationships to create positive experiences for our customers.

The weather is getting chilly, and you know what that means: winter is on the way.  Salt is the main chemical we use to treat roads in the winter. There are many ways to use salt including mixing it with water and spraying that salt brine on the road to help keep snow and ice from sticking. In the right weather conditions, solid rock salt can be used to help melt the slick stuff. However, getting the solid rock salt to stay where we put it can be a challenge. One that our snowfighters meet head-on, starting with testing the effectiveness of our salt spreaders.