By Joseph Palmersheim

Nearly 180 schools around Minnesota will benefit from $8,234,000 in Safe Routes to School grants that MnDOT awarded recently.

Safe Routes to School is an international program to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion around schools. It does this by making it safer and easier for students to walk and bicycle to school, with an added benefit of increasing physical activity and student health.

“Thousands of school children now have more opportunities to walk and bike to schools because of the Safe Routes to School program,” said Nancy Daubenberger, interim commissioner. “More students walking and bicycling means less traffic on the road and near schools, improving safety and promoting healthier kids.”

The funding provides:

• Planning assistance grants for communities to convene a team, understand key issues, prioritize strategies and identify solutions that fit their local need. 
• Boost grants to help enhance existing local programs. Past examples of this include funding for bike fleet with a trailer to teach children how to ride, or funding for bike parking.
• Infrastructure grants for construction of projects that promote and encourage more students to walk or bicycle to school. Ways to make these routes safer (and more accessible) include adding sidewalks, trails, crosswalk markings, flashing beacons and other traffic control devices. 

The Safe Routes to School grants in this solicitation are funded with state and federal Safe Routes to School dollars. Historically, nearly 70 percent of these funds have supported work within Greater Minnesota communities.

Since 2005, MnDOT has awarded more than $50 million in federal and state funds to communities to support Safe Routes to School. The majority of funding was awarded for infrastructure projects. The remainder was allocated for programs and planning that promote walkable and bikeable communities.

For more information about the program and a list of the 2022 grant recipients, visit www.mndot.gov/saferoutes.

Mark Gieseke has stepped into the role of temporary deputy commissioner and chief engineer backfilling for Nancy Daubenberger, who was named MnDOT’s interim commissioner earlier this month. Filling in for Gieseke during this time is Michael Beer, who will temporarily serve as the Engineering Services Division assistant commissioner.

Gieseke has been with MnDOT 39 years, working in various engineering and management positions. Since late 2019, he has been the assistant commissioner for the Engineering Services Division, and prior to that, he served as the assistant division director for Engineering Services, as well as acting assistant commissioner for State Aid and Statewide Radio Communications. Gieseke also served as director for both the Office of Transportation Systems Management as well as the Office of Statewide Radio Communications.

Beer brings more than 25 years of project delivery and management experience to his role. Most recently, he has served as the assistant director of the Engineering Services Division. Prior to that, he served as the assistant district engineer for construction in the Metro District. During his time at Metro District, he has held leadership positions on major projects such as the St. Croix River Crossing and the Hwy 169/Interstate 494 Interchange design build project.

Lynn Clarkowski is the new Metro District Operations & Maintenance director. In her new role, Clarkowski will provide leadership, strategic direction and organizational support to Metro’s Operations and Maintenance services with an emphasis on several Metro District business plan priorities in workforce planning, scoping, asset management and salt solutions.

Previously, Clarkowski was the Metro District Program Delivery director. Her other MnDOT management experience includes directing MnDOT’s Office of Environmental Stewardship, and serving as Metro South Area manager, Metro South Area engineer, and acting Metro Operations and Maintenance director.

By Joseph Palmersheim

MnDOT recently launched a new Transportation Project Development Process website to provide guidance on all aspects of project development for MnDOT staff and consultants working on MnDOT projects.

Improvements on the new website include:

• A visual interface with an interactive graphic showing key phases and activities in the project development process.
• Conversion from PDFs to .html to allow for streamlined updates.
• Updated subject guidance content.
• New content on final design and public engagement.
• Multiple ways to search for guidance (A to Z, site-specific Google search and by phase).
• Functional group descriptions clarifying roles and expectations.

Creating the TPDP from the former Highway Project Development Process site began with user feedback. This feedback came from surveys, interviews and analysis conducted by the Management Analysis and Development group at the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget. Results showed that users preferred more visuals, reliable updates and easier searching.

The TPDP team hosted a workshop during the site design phase, and also sought feedback from site users, content owners and MnDOT leaders throughout the site development process.

“It’s exciting that we have this new tool,” said Tom Styrbicki, state design engineer. “This is going to benefit the whole Minnesota transportation community.”

“The old HPDP site was an alphabetized list of topics, and it wasn't at all intuitive,” he said. “You had to know what you wanted and seek that out. The new TPDP is more accessible and follows the chronology of project development. If you are in the scoping stage, you can go to that stage [on the interactive graphic] and see what you need to be doing. The intuitive interface is great.”

In some ways, the new site captures some of the institutional experience within the agency.

By Joseph Palmersheim

Stephanie Clark, transportation specialist in the Office of Materials and Road Research, has worked as a data technician at MnDOT for 2.5 years. She is one of three people at the agency who drive vehicles with sensors to gather pavement data.

What do you do in your role?
I collect pavement data for the counties. MnDOT collects pavement condition data on all state highways and one-half of county state aid highways on an annual basis. Testing involves driving each road, in both directions. We measure pavement roughness, rutting, faulting, cracking and other pavement distress.  We also collect digital images of the right of way and pavement surfaces. During the off season, I review the data for accuracy and prepare for the upcoming season.

What kinds of skills does your job require?
The skills needed for the job are varied: attention to detail, ability to multitask, understanding the complexity of multiple data collection systems and how they all work together. Knowing how to create and read maps is important in planning and for efficiency while in the field.

How does your vehicle collect data?
Each of our data collection vehicles has a variety of specialized equipment. We have front and side digital cameras, which we use to collect images for our Videolog recording program. The vehicle also has an inertial profiling laser system for roughness measurements, and 3-D lasers for pavement images, crack surveys, and measuring rutting and faulting. Finally, we have GPS.

What is the data used for and why is it important to have?
We used the data for a variety of reasons, but mostly to track conditions of pavement. It can help [agency staff] make decisions on road projects and maintenance. 

How many miles would you estimate you drive for work each year?
So many! My guess is that I average 35,000 miles in a season (April through October). This includes roughly 16,000 lane miles for data collection, and the rest is getting to and from the various counties.

What do you find interesting about your work?
I enjoy seeing the different technologies and techniques that go into maintaining roadways. The climate in Minnesota offers unique challenges with pavement. Seeing how the conditions change year over year is very interesting.

This position is unique in that we are limited to the “good weather days,” meaning no rain, no ice or snow. It can be long days, especially when most of it is spent in a vehicle, but the scenery and knowing the value and importance of the data make it worth it.

What’s your favorite part about what you do?
Traveling all across our state - Minnesota offers so many wonderful places. I am constantly amazed at how beautiful it is here. I also enjoy working with a variety of people, hearing stories from different parts of the state, and learning how each county uses the data.

Do you or a co-worker have an interesting job to share with readers? Send us your ideas, and we’ll contact you for more information.

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