By Beth Petrowske

Workers Memorial Day, April 28, is a day observed nationally to remember the more than 5,000 American workers who die on the job each year. Employees at Mn/DOT facilities statewide observed the day by listening to a broadcast message from Commissioner Tom Sorel, which included 10 seconds of silence to remember the 31 employees and 13 contract workers killed while working on Mn/DOT projects.
 
Metro District and District 6 held formal programs in Richfield and Rochester. Sorel, Metro District Engineer Scott McBride, District 6 Engineer Nelrae Succio and others spoke about the losses that Mn/DOT has sustained over the years and about the need to make work zone safety a top priority.

In 2009, motorists hit approximately 75 Mn/DOT employees while they were inside a vehicle in a work zone or while snow plowing.

"Every time we go to work we have to think, 'work safely, work according to OSHA compliances and make sure we all get home safely'," said Robert Langanki, Rochester subarea supervisor.

Both ceremonies included testimonials by Mn/DOT snow plow drivers who have been hit by vehicles while plowing.

Dave Serrano, Stewartville truck station, spoke about a crash he was involved in on Hwy 30 when a motorist lost control coming down a hill and crashed head-on into his snow plow.

“The plow did exactly what it was supposed to do and pushed her car off to the right,” Serrano said. “I hoped more than anything that she had her seat belt on—she did and suffered only broken legs. It could have been much worse.”

Howard VanVleet, Hastings truck station, shared a story that still causes him great sadness.

The incident happened at an intersection on Hwy 212 near Cologne in February 2009. After a two-day snowstorm, with temperatures in the 20-below-zero range, VanVleet was sanding the left turn lane of the intersection. Due to the low temperatures, salt had not been applied and traffic lanes were slippery. The right lane was less slippery because more cars had used it and some of the compacted snow and ice had worn away. Traffic was moving at about 35 mph in the right lane. VanVleet had just started to release the sand when he saw a red car pull into the left lane to bypass the traffic in the right lane. The car was heading for the back of the snow plow at about 60 mph, completely out-of-control on the ice-covered road. VanVleet floored the gas pedal as the car closed in, but was unable to prevent the crash.

“I ran back to the car and all I could see was a woman’s hand moving slightly,” VanVleet said. “I told her to please hold on—that I had help coming.”

The woman was rushed to a hospital, but died from her injuries a week later.

Both programs attracted media attention, which was used to share information about work zone safety, Toward Zero Death efforts, the Ted Foss Move Over law and the importance of wearing seat belts.

Metro District’s Workers Memorial Day Committee planned the Richfield event. Lisa Daniels, transportation generalist, and Kevin Walker, Crosstown community outreach coordinator, served as committee chair and co-chair. Jessica Wiens, District 6 public affairs coordinator, chaired the District 6 committee that planned the Rochester event.

For more information on Workers Memorial Day, visit http://www.dot.state.mn.us/const/tools/workermemorial.html.

By Jake Akervik, Research Services communication coordinator

Mn/DOT’s Research Services and the Transportation Research and Innovation Group recently selected 23 research proposals for Fiscal Year 2011 approval and funding. TRIG is a Mn/DOT management group tasked with looking through the many Minnesota university research proposals received annually. 

“TRIG’s job is to ensure that the research proposals selected are the ones that will best serve the interests of Mn/DOT and its stakeholders,” said Linda Taylor, director of Research Services. “If research is selected by a cross-departmental group that has new members every year, we feel that we’ll do a better job of selecting and prioritizing research projects that best fit the needs of the agency as a whole.”

Some project areas include:

• Bridge research and infrastructure investment—seven projects continue Mn/DOT’s enhanced focus on bridges and related issues.

• Supporting in-state higher education partnerships—21 projects reinforce the department’s partnerships with Minnesota universities and commitment to Minnesota education, research and innovation, with 17 projects going to the University of Minnesota and four going to Minnesota State University-Mankato.

• Transparency and working with citizens and stakeholders—Four projects focus on improving transparency and organizational transformation through investigation of quality-of-life performance measures, economic benefits of telework for employers, benefits of distance-based fees for the trucking industry and transportation investment case studies to identify impacts on the local and state economy.

“One of the goals of Mn/DOT research is to align our program and projects with Mn/DOT’s Strategic Vision,” Taylor said. “We do this by making sure selected research fits into strategic research areas that align with the overall strategic directions.” 

For example, one of the selected safety projects will estimate the crash reduction and vehicle-dynamic effects of flashing LED stop signs, while one innovative project aims to develop an advanced warning system for fracture-critical steel bridges.

For more information about the projects, the selection process and how to submit a research proposal, contact Linda Taylor at 651-366-3765.

The Mn/DOT Research Services 2009 Annual Report features a new section that covers the FHWA State Planning and Research/Pooled Fund program. 2010 CTS Research Awards Mn/DOT received the 2010 University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies Research Partnership Award for “Automated Friction Measurement, Data Recording, and Applicator Control for Winter Road Maintenance.” Mn/DOT recipients: Dan Warzala, Farideh Amiri, Curt Gobeli, Mark Panek, Roger Hille, Thomas Zimmerman, Sue Lodahl and Gabe Guevara.

By Beth Petrowske

Mn/DOT’s Stewardship Council recently reviewed and submitted 11 project proposals for Destination Innovation funding to Commissioner Tom Sorel for final approval.

The Destination Innovation Program was established last November to assist in the delivery of innovative and creative projects in one or more of Mn/DOT’s strategic directions—Safety, Mobility, Innovation, Leadership and Transparency. Since then, a variety of innovative proposals from all areas of the state have been submitted to receive funding.

Among the 11 proposals that received Stewardship Council support is a project to build an interchange at Hwy 169 and Bren Road (Safety, Mobility and Innovation). The project received $7,650,000 — the highest amount of funding for any selected proposal. Another initiative that would expand the use of 3-D modeling (Innovation and Transparency) received $100,000.

Innovation project funding is still available and employees are encouraged to submit proposals by completing a Destination Innovation Fund Application.

“All ideas are welcome,” said Rebecca Fabunmi, assistant to the commissioner and deputy commissioner/chief engineer. “Teams, individuals or offices can work together to submit an idea.”

Examples of potential projects include those that improve safety and mobility, accelerate construction, affect quality of life and use innovative finance methods to maximize existing funds and leverage new funds.

The Stewardship Council, which consists of the division directors and deputy commissioner/chief engineer, meets monthly to review funding proposals. In addition, the council will monitor each of the approved Destination Innovation projects to ensure they are delivering outcomes that help the department move toward its Strategic Vision.

“It is a pleasure to be part of such an innovative culture,” Fabunmi said. “We have a lot of people at Mn/DOT who have a lot of great ideas.”

By Bob Filipczak

Bev Farraher, Metro District maintenance engineer, recently received the 2010 Manager of the Year in Transportation Award from the American Public Works Association. Farraher was nominated by the APWA-Minnesota Chapter.

True to her Midwest nature, Farraher said she isn’t quite sure what to do with the honor and the attention. Receiving this individual award wars with her upbringing, because she was always taught to work hard but avoid self promotion.

On the other hand, Farraher said she can’t say enough about her team. As Metro District maintenance engineer, she manages nearly 600 people, 4,000 miles of roads and 1,200 bridges and structures.

“This award shows how powerful and amazing our group is,” Farraher said. “This helps recognize all the work that’s been done by our team and it shows our success in tackling the volume, variety and complexity of our work as well as addressing our challenges working in high-speed and high-volume traffic.”

Farraher also said she hopes this award helps her profession by recognizing the great work being done by public works professionals across Minnesota who create an environment of professionalism and excellence.