By Craig Wilkins

Participants in this year’s Mississippi Valley Conference in Minneapolis rode bikes, took light rail transit and walked historic areas of the city in addition to attending the usual rounds of workshops and committee meetings. The conference was held July 9-11.

Tours included visits to the Minnesota Road Research Program facility near Albertville, the Hiawatha light rail transit control center and maintenance facility in Minneapolis and the Regional Transportation Management Center in Roseville.

The 2007 meeting was the first time that the American Association of State Transportation Officials’ regional conference met outside Chicago since 1909.  

More than 400 people attended including representatives from cities, counties, state DOTs as well as contractors and consultants from the private sector.  

Major speakers included Mary Peters, Secretary of Transportation; U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, Minn., chair of the House Transportation Committee, and Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau.

“The theme of this year’s conference is ‘People, Partners and Programs,’ which is fitting because we have many partners here who have joined in the fight against congestion that threatens to choke our cities and our economy,” Molnau said in her remarks to open the meeting.

The conference focused on issues including safety, mobility, freight movement and partnerships.

Rick Kjonaas, deputy State Aid to Local Transportation engineer, said the panel on partnerships enabled participants to share successes, explore challenges and consider new options.

Kjonaas noted panelist Lou Tasa, District 2 state aid engineer, who reported on the district’s collaboration with three counties Minnesota to build a 10-ton highway to provide year-round truck access to cities such as Roseau and Warroad in northern Minnesota.

When completed this fall, the 37-mile network of improved county roads will provide year-round heavy truck route that will extend from Grygla to Gully.

The panels and other sessions, Kjonaas said, created lively exchanges among participants anxious to find new ways to alleviate congestion and other traffic-related problems.

During another panel on congestion management, Mn/DOT’s Brian Kary shared some of the steps the agency has taken to reduce traffic congestion in Minnesota.

Kary, operations engineer with Freeway Management Systems, cited the department’s use of “small fixes” to alleviate congestion. Those measures include adding a third lane to part of Hwy 100 in the Twin Cities until major reconstruction occurs and building auxiliary freeway ramps to improve traffic flow.

Kary said he was encouraged to learn of similar efforts by other states.

“Texas, other states and some cities are experiencing the same results as our projects,” he said. “That helps build the case for us and other states to use innovative, limited-scale efforts to address major congestion issues.”

At the meeting’s close, Molnau said the conference provided a valuable forum to address current and future transportation issues.

“The challenge for us as individual states is to go back and apply what we have learned to our own unique challenges at home,” she said. “The challenge for all of us as partners is to continue to work together to provide the best transportation system possible for American citizens.”

A funeral service will be held for Dudley Gjersvig on July 26. Gjersvig died July 20 after suffering a brain aneurism a week earlier.

Gjersvig was a research analysis specialist in the Traffic Forecasting Section of Transportation Data Analysis.

He was 59 and a native of the Detroit Lakes area.

The service will be held 11 a.m. July 26 at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 701 Lexington Ave. N., in St. Paul. Visitation at the church begins at 10 a.m.

Interment will be at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

His survivors include his wife, Charlotte Gjersvig; a son, Nathan, and a daughter, Amy.

Gjersvig began his Mn/DOT career in June 1967 as a highway technician in Detroit Lakes. He left in 1968 to serve with the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War. He was wounded and received the Purple Heart.

Gjersvig returned to Mn/DOT in 1970 in the Central Office. He was promoted to his most recent position in 1998.

Tom Nelson, Gjersvig’s supervisor, said he was easygoing, friendly and supportive of his coworkers.

“Dudley served his country in Vietnam and the people of Minnesota for 40 years,” Nelson said. “He was looking forward to retiring this fall or winter.”

Coworker Mickey Morris said Gjersvig was always low-key and smiling, despite continuing effects from losing a leg when he stepped on a mine in Vietnam.

“Dudley has been a valued member of our traffic data team for many years and a contributor to the department for more than 40 years,” said Jonette Kreideweis, TDA director. “He was the person to go to about traffic volumes on Minnesota roadways.

“Over the years he prepared traffic volume maps, helped with traffic forecasts and answered many, many requests for data from people outside the department.  

“He was a kind man who worked well with everyone and almost always had a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye,” she said. “He will be sorely missed by all of us.”

Transit drivers from St. Cloud’s Metro Bus system threaded their buses through a labyrinth of twists and turns to earn top scoring honors at the 2007 Minnesota Bus Roadeo held July 21 in Willmar.

Mn/DOT’s Transit Office and the state’s Rural Transit Assistance Program sponsor the annual event.

Metro Bus drivers ranked first and third in the large bus division and second in the small division at the annual driving competition and training session.

Drivers from 26 state transit systems faced off on the roadeo course that simulates the challenges transit drivers face during their everyday driving duties.

Before tackling the roadeo course, drivers received training on safe, low-risk methods to manage passengers who may become confrontational or violent.

Donna Allan, Transit director, said the competition, training and informal meetings gave participants an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences and further support the best in safety, efficiency and customer service.

“We conduct this event each year to honordrivers and the contributions they make in their communities’ mobility, vibrancy and well-being,” Allan said.

More information about the roadeo and transit programs may be found at  www.dot.state.mn.us/transit/.

Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau addressed current and past Seeds and Phoenix students, their supervisors, mentors and guests at an annual SEEDs day event July 18 at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center in St. Paul.

The Seeds program provides job opportunities for minority or economically disadvantaged college students and focuses on permanent placement upon graduation. The Phoenix program is another early recruitment program that targets high school students interested in engineering and technical careers.

“The Seeds and Phoenix programs have had a great track record of success for Mn/DOT,” said Molnau. “The program is growing and students are growing their careers here. Success is in their future and they are ready.”

The program gave special recognition this year to six Seeds graduates who have been hired into full-time positions at Mn/DOT during the past year, three hgh school Phoenix students who transitioned into the Seeds program, and nine new Seeds students and seven new Phoenix students, according to Emma Corrie, the Seeds program director.

For more information about the Phoenix and Seeds programs, see http://www.dot.state.mn.us/hr/seeds/.

Tim Lee was appointed to serve as director of the Office of Electronic Communications until a successor for Andy Terry is named. His new assignment began July 12.

Terry resigned to join a private consulting firm.

Lee has served as the office’s assistant director since 2002.

Lee’s major focus is implementing the Allied Radio Matrix for Emergency Response system statewide.

The ARMER system uses digitally connected radio frequencies that allow interoperability by Mn/DOT, the Department of Public Safety, law enforcement and other public agencies to communicate more effectively, especially during an emergency.

Lee began working for Mn/DOT in 1991 as a graduate engineer. He left in 1994 to work in the private sector. Lee returned to Mn/DOT in 1998 to work as a communications systems engineer.

His work experience also includes radio and radar repair in the U.S. Coast Guard, digital hardware design and telemetry analysis.

He holds a bachelor’s of science degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

Support for two core information technology infrastructures, video conferencing and the wide area network, has transferred from Mn/DOT to the state Office of Enterprise Technology, the result of an ongoing initiative to pool information technology services across all state agencies.

Stemming from the governor’s Drive to Excellence project, these changes are part of a partnership agreement Mn/DOT and OET signed in January 2006 to find ways to pool information technology resources. OET has similar agreements with other state agencies.    

“This is a change in direction in how we’re managing our IT infrastructure,” said John Moreland, information technology infrastructure manager in the Office of Decision Support. “It’s a way for Mn/DOT to leverage OET network infrastructure for our benefit. Plus, it frees up our networking staff to focus on other agency priorities.”

Think of the WAN as an interstate highway, Moreland explained. Each ‘lane’ represents a network service, such as video conferencing, Internet access, e-mail and Mn/DOT’s new phone system.

“It was becoming clear that in order to add more ‘lanes,’ we needed to expand the ‘highway,’” he said. “The question then became, ‘What’s the best way to create growth opportunities while creating efficiencies in the delivery of Mn/DOT IT services?’”

The answer? OET’s network infrastructure, which provides Mn/DOT with the equivalent capacity of a super highway.  

Mn/DOT was facing similar limitations with its video conferencing facilities having grown to 24 conference rooms in 10 years. By integrating with OET’s video conference service, Mn/DOT employees now have access to a network of more than 800 video conferencing sites belonging to state, city and county government agencies and the state’s university and college system.  

Although video conferencing scheduling and service support has moved to OET, Mn/DOT is still responsible for its video conference rooms and equipment replacement.

Moreland credits Mn/DOT employees Tom Teisberg (now working for OET) and Greg Heintz, Office of Decision Support, and OET’s Art Smolecki, with having done a lot of the implementation of the changeover. Also key to the effort were Kim Roberson, Office of Decision Support project manager, and Archie Vickerman, OET’s technology liaison.

For more information, see:

• Video conferencing information
• Mn/DOT, Office of Enterprise Technology sign IT partnership agreement, Jan. 31, 2006 memo

By Donna Lindberg

Babe the Blue Ox, Paul Bunyan’s faithful companion and icon of the north central Minnesota tourism industry, received some cosmetic surgery this summer.

“You’re lookin’ good, Babe,” said Frank Pafko, Office of Environmental Services director and chair of the Minnesota Scenic Byway Commission, at a July 16 party for Babe.

“Over the years, Babe’s weight took its toll and a new base was constructed under her,” Pafko said. “He (yes, Babe is a he) also had a few cracks patched followed by a brand new coat of blue paint.”

The 23-foot-long Babe and 18-foot-tall Paul have stood side by side along the Hwy 197 section of the Great River Road National Scenic Byway south of Lake Bemidji for 70 years. Both are listed on the National Registry and are much beloved by locals and visitors alike. Babe’s restoration was funded by the Bemidji Area Chamber of Commerce, the city of Bemidji, the Bemidji Rotary Club and local citizens. Additional funding was provided by the National Scenic Byways Program.

“Babe is just one of many sights waiting to delight motorists who travel the 575-mile Great River Road National Scenic Byway from the Iowa border to Itasca State Park,” Pafko said. “With gas prices going up, seeing Minnesota first is the way to go!”

For more information about Babe’s restoration, see the July 17 Bemidji Pioneer article at http://ihub.clips/archive/07/jul/17/clip01.html.