Passing The Torch...

My three-year term as your Midwestern District Director on the ITE International Board of Direction is in its waning hours. What an experience it has been! I have enjoyed working with you and for you as District Director.

I look forward to the great leadership that my successor, Bob Seyfried, will provide. Please welcome him in this position as you have welcomed me. He will do an admirable job in serving our district at the international level!

Thanks again for your support. I look forward to serving the district, the North Central Section, and ITE as a whole in many other ways in the future!

Good luck, and Happy New Year!

ITE News Items...

As I close out the books as your District Director, there are two breaking items of importance to our membership as we enter 2010...

First, the Institute has identified the following members to run for election to serve starting in 2011. Please note the addition of Ray Davis as a third candidate for International Vice President. Your 2011 ITE International Elected Leadership Ballot will appear as follows:

International President

• Robert C. Wunderlich, P.E., FITE

International Vice President

• Troy A. Peoples, P.E., FITE
• Rock E. Miller, P.E., PTOE, FITE
• Raymond E. Davis, III, P.E., PTOE, FITE

Be sure to follow their campaigns in the coming year.

Second, ITE President-Elect Paul Eng-Wong announced last week that ITE has just signed a lease for new space for its Headquarters Office. He stated, "It seems like only a few years ago that the Institute celebrated its move to the current office location…but that was in November 2000. As our lease expires on August 31, 2010, ITE Executive Director Thomas W. Brahms and Deputy Executive Director Peter W. Frentz have been hard at work for more than a year to find the right location to house the ITE Headquarters Office going forward. These efforts included seeking to extend the lease at our current location, and there were several considerations that helped to temper the selection: accessibility, being in the vicinity of the current office space, affordability, and being for as long a term as practical. Their efforts have produced an ideal location: 1627 I (Eye) Street, NW, Washington, DC, USA, in the Army and Navy Club Building, only four blocks from our current location. The new office location is just two blocks from the White House and within a block of both the Farragut North and Farragut West Metro Stations (on the Red, Orange and Blue Lines). We have negotiated a lease that has a base period of 15 years and 8 months and two 5-year lease extension options."

Paul added, "The leadership of the Institute asks that you to help us to recognize the 80^th anniversary of the Institute and its move to a new office by contributing to the 80^thAnniversary Headquarters Office Fund. We are seeking your contributions toward the reception area, conference room and seminar and briefing broadcast room to make this space most functional—a space that reflects favorably on the Institute and its past, present and future. We are seeking to raise $200,000. The Executive Committee of the Institute has begun this effort by contributing more than $10,000. Contributions will be recognized and opportunities for specific sponsorship are available. I look forward to you joining with Tom and me to help us to reach this goal."

Paul closed by saying, "Additional information concerning specific opportunities to endow conference room furnishings, reception area furnishings and the seminar and briefing broadcast room will be available on the ITE Web site. Contributions can be made by checks payable to the Institute of Transportation Engineers. ITE is a recognized nonprofit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. As such, contributions to ITE, including the 80^th Anniversary Headquarters Office Fund, are generally deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. Thank you for your generosity and support of ITE."

Please contribute generously to this great cause!

Recognizing Our Traffic and Transportation Legacy

“It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge.”

-- Montgomery Schuyler, writing upon the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, New York.

'The Bridge as a Monument', Harper's Weekly (26 May 1883), 27, 326. In David P. Billington, The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering (1983), 17.

It is true that, for the most part, our life’s work goes unrecognized. The roads we plan, design and build; the studies we conduct for large corridor projects; the intersections we signalize; the signs we design, install and maintain; the traffic models we calibrate and test; the reports we write and the meetings we attend – our efforts go largely unrecognized by the general public.

Nevertheless, our work is a critical element of our civilization’s success. That’s why transportation infrastructure improvements have been a key initiative in the President’s Recovery Act.

And that is why ITE is important to us as transportation professionals. We exist to be together with our compatriots, our mentors, our competitors and affiliates. We exist to share the state-of-the-practice, as well as the state-of-the-art. We share our lessons learned and our current standards. Through it all, we strive to have our work recognized.

It reminds me of the current television commercial for Intel, which features Ajay Bhatt, co-inventor of the USB (Universal Serial Bus for computers). Ajay, who from the outside appears to be a mild-mannered scientist, saunters through the break room, adored by his fans who are hounding him for autographs. The tag line reads, “Our rock stars aren’t like your rock stars.”

Who are our rock stars? What have they done to deserve “rock star” status? Over the nearly-three years I have served you as Midwestern District Director to the International Board of ITE, I have come to meet several people I would classify as “rock stars” in our district and profession.

Unbeknownst to many of you, and prior to every International Board meeting I attend, ITE Headquarters asks district directors to identify “Rising Stars” in his/her district. ITE HQ then uses those names for consideration for various committees and task forces. My travels throughout the district have allowed me to nominate several members as “Rising Stars”. I am happy to say that we are blessed with many talented and dedicated members who serve our district well as industry leaders.

So it is gratifying to see that our District Board is promoting the creation of a district-wide Transportation Achievement Award. It will be a way to publicly honor and recognize our “rock star” projects. As we recognize our district’s distinguished projects, it will be important to share that information with all sections and with local media. Doing so will build our legacy among members in our district, and to promote our professional image to those outside our organization.

We are a great organization, and despite what you may think, we are doing well! My past three years has taught me that ITE is a solid organization that has weathered the economic storm. In fact, we have seen an increase in recent membership. The Annual Meeting in San Antonio garnered a greater attendance than was anticipated (final count -- over 1000 attendees).

And we are branching out. We have undertaken the first steps toward publishing a “learned journal” focusing on technical papers and research. We are publishing a traffic engineering textbook. We are also including the mega-issue of sustainability into our strategic plan.

While every organization has been hit by the economic downturn, the International Board has taken steps to lessen the financial impact that the economy has had on our membership. We voted to freeze 2010 member and agency dues at 2009 rates. We voted to freeze 2010 Technical Conference and registration fees not to exceed 2009 rates. We also voted to freeze the 2010 Annual Meeting registration fees not to exceed the 2009 rates as a parameter for developing the annual meeting budget. Furthermore, ITE HQ has enacted a series of internal cost-saving measures to ensure that member services will not been adversely affected.

In addition, the International Board has brainstormed ways to make the Annual Meeting more attractive to members. Strategies to accomplish this include the creation of full tracks of professional training courses. These could include the offering of live versions of the training topics found in the ITE Web Seminars. Thus, the Annual Meeting would become a more thorough and cost-saving professional development opportunity for attendees than ever before.

One new service that ITE HQ is providing is the service of the professional meeting planning firm, Helms-Briscoe to assist chapters, sections and districts in the selection and contracting of their meeting venues. Their expertise in planning meetings, negotiating hotel rates, and evaluating contracts is unparalleled. Best yet, they will assist ITE at no charge.

As I have traveled around our district, I have been amazed with the level of enthusiasm that is growing in all levels of our district. Our meetings are attracting more attendees – even from those outside our organization. Despite this time of budgetary cutbacks and restricted travel, we are seeing members finding ways to attend our meetings.

We remain a vital and important source of professional development. ITE and its Transportation Professional Certification Board remain great sources for professional certification and learning. The Midwestern District currently has 1765 members, or 9.75% or the total membership of ITE. Nevertheless, our district has certified:

• 381 Professional Traffic Operations Engineers^® (or 16.9% of all PTOEs),
• 24 Professional Transportation Planners^® (or 10.8% of all PTPs),
• 4 Traffic Operations Practitioner Specialists^® (or 7.3% of all TOPS), and
• 5 Traffic Signal Operations Specialists^® (or 6.8% of all TSOSs).

As I complete my elected role as Midwestern District Director at the end of the year, I thank all of those who have assisted me during my term, especially my MWITE mentors on the International Board – ITE International Past President Earl Newman, and 2009 ITE International President Ken Voigt. Thanks, too, to the Midwestern Board of Directors, ably led these last three years by Kyle Anderson, Jeff Young and John Davis. I also thank each section of the Midwestern District – Illinois, MOVITE, NCITE and Wisconsin, who were each gracious and accommodating when I attended their meetings. I thank Tom Campbell, MWITE District Administrator, for providing the District with continuity and history. I thank Todd Szymkowski for his efforts in managing the MWITE website. I also thank our scribe, Mark Rinnan for doing a great job as MWITE Newsletter Editor. I especially thank you, the membership of MWITE, for allowing me the privilege to serve as the conduit of information between the International Board and the District.

I wish to thank my employer, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., and especially my supervisor, Dave Warzala, for allowing me to serve the profession as District Director during these three years. I appreciate their support.

As I close, I cannot forget to thank my wife, Teresa, and my daughter, Kristen. I greatly appreciate their love and understanding as I travelled (often too much) to various meetings.

The friendships I have made while serving this office will last a lifetime. The camaraderie that I have been able to develop with Board members from around the world has been quite rewarding. The ability to see and be a part of the inner workings of an international professional organization has been awe-inspiring. I will treasure these times always.

And so to bring this discussion of legacy full circle, as midnight December 31, 2009 becomes the morning of January 1, 2010, I will pass the torch of MWITE District Director to Robert K. Seyfried, P.E., PTOE. The page turns, and the chapter begins anew. Good luck, Bob, as you carry on. Our district will be in good hands!

-- Stephen J. Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP

Midwestern District Director (2007-2009)

In Memoriam...

Chad Smith, City Traffic Engineer for the City of Bloomington, MN, passed away at age 41. Chad had been suffering from the effects of skin cancer over the past year, and suffered cardiac arrest last weekend.

Chad is survived by parents, Ruth and Jim Smith; sister, Becky (Loren) Schmidt; niece, Sarah Schmidt; nephew, Owen Schmidt; aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends. Funeral service was 10:00 AM Wednesday, July 1 at Community of the Cross Lutheran Church, 10701 Bloomington Ferry Rd., Bloomington, MN. Visitation was 9-10 AM Wednesday at church. Interment Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery, Cedar Rapids, IA was at 6:00 PM Wednesday.

Chad was a quiet, but talented traffic engineer for the Iowa DOT prior to working with the City of Bloomington. He was also an active member of the MOVITE and more recently NCITE, having served recently on the Board of Direction. He will be missed.

Passing the torch...

At last Friday's Midwestern District Business Meeting, the next MWITE District Director to the International Board of Direction was announced. He is Robert K. Seyfried, P.E., PTOE.

Congratulations, Bob!

An Open Letter to the District Membership...

June 10, 2009

Dear ITE Midwestern District Members:

I would like to extend an invitation for you to attend the Institute of Transportation Engineers 2009 Annual Meeting and Exhibit in San Antonio, TX, USA, August 9–12, 2009. This year’s meeting is chock full of opportunities to meet and network with peers, vendors and influential industry leaders

Now more than ever, you want to make the most of your learning experiences. ITE realizes the challenges facing transportation professionals in these trying economic times and has developed a meeting program to maximize your collaboration and networking experience.

Some highlights from the Annual Meeting and Exhibit include:

·         If your company registers three or more people for the meeting you will receive a 20 percent discount.

·         Positions available/wanted booklets to assist members in hiring the best and the brightest and to find employment.

·         An exhibit catered to making the most of your limited time and resources.

·         52 technical sessions ranging from roundabouts and pedestrian bike issues to new trends in parking and emerging green technologies.

·         Discussion on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its impact on our community.

·         Student poster sessions where you can meet the next generation of transportation professionals.

For information about these opportunities and a complete list of technical and special sessions, tours and exhibit information, visit www.ite.org/annualmeeting. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sallie Dollins at +1 202-289-0222 ext. 149 or sdollins@ite.org. We hope to see you in San Antonio!

Sincerely,

 

  

Stephen J. Manhart, P.E., PTOE, PTP

ITE Midwestern District Director

Roundabout voted down...

reprinted from the Tokepa Capital-Journal

By Rick Dean

Created June 9, 2009 at 10:48pm

Updated June 9, 2009 at 11:34pm

Susan Helbert, her voice breaking as she spoke, talked about how her life and home on the corner of S.W. 17th and MacVicar would be forever affected by a proposed roundabout that would bring traffic “right to my bedroom window.”

Helen Gaither, who has lived for nearly 60 years in the neighborhood, talked about escorting three generations of children through the heavily traveled intersection on trikes, bikes and foot. She wondered if she could ever cross the intersection again without the four-way traffic signal she has depended on for years.

Jorge Nobo, a Washburn University teacher and resident of the College Hill neighborhood, acknowledged that roundabouts are an effective way of slowing down traffic, something everyone says needs to happen on the busy northwest corner of the WU campus.

“It’s like rush hour every hour,” Nobo said of the traffic during class changes. “But a roundabout isn’t the most effective way to control that intersection. It’s like saying Hondas are good cars, but the one particular Honda I’m considering may have been underwater in New Orleans for six weeks. You have to look at each particular case.”

Consequently, when the Topeka City Council heard overwhelming opposition — 11 of 14 speakers Tuesday night spoke against it — to its proposed roundabout at the central city intersection, it voted 8-1 not to proceed with the proposed $1.2 million project, $800,000 of which would have come from the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Councilman Jeff Preisner was the lone dissenting vote. “Change is hard in Topeka,” he noted.

Not that the neighborhood doesn’t want changes in dealing with an intersection traffic engineers say has become dangerous. They recommended new traffic signals to replace the 1976 signal system, signs warning of heavy pedestrian traffic, stepped-up police patrols. They gave city officials high marks for a tree-trimming project that increased visibility at the intersection following public concerns voiced last week at a public hearing. They also credited the council for listening to their concerns.

“Now we hope that they’ll continue to implement some of the recommendations that came out of his whole thing,” said Helbert, no longer concerned about losing part of her front yard to accommodate the roundabout.

Column: Roundabout overload coming dangerously close

reprinted from The Topeka Capital-Journal

By Gwyn Mellinger
April 8, 2009 - 8:50pm

American traffic engineers are ga-ga over roundabouts, which means circular intersections will become increasingly common on our streets and highways. As is the case anytime public dollars are thrown at a trendy idea, taxpayers need to keep an eyebrow raised.

This isn’t a distant phenomenon. Even Topeka has manifested early symptoms of roundabout fever. Since the beginning of the decade, several roundabouts have been built in the area, and more are planned. For example, Shawnee County commissioners approved a project late last year that would construct a roundabout at N.W. 46th and Oakley. That is no big deal — except this particular roundabout will be built one block east of a circular intersection at N.W. 46th and US-75 highway.

This is what has happened throughout the United Kingdom, where roundabouts are more common than pubs. Left unchecked, roundabouts multiply until a road literally becomes short stretches of pavement linking traffic circles.

When this occurs, the automobile becomes an inefficient mode of transportation. It’s not unusual for a highway trip in England to average less than 40 mph, largely because drivers are forced, again and again, to reduce their speed to about 20 mph — sometimes in the middle of a freeway — in order to negotiate a roundabout.

On divided British highways, roundabouts commonly replace ramped exits. This is traffic engineering at its worst.

The inefficiency of the roundabout as an intersection design really comes into focus when a driver wants to keep going straight but has to slow down to enter the circle, then take the exit where his road continues.

Deployed sparingly and far from other circular intersections, the roundabout has several things going for it, which explains traffic engineers’ enthusiasm for the concept. Depending on the project, a roundabout is often less expensive to build than a traditional intersection regulated by a traffic signal.

Problems arise, though, when traffic at a roundabout becomes so heavy that lights must be installed to allow vehicles into and out of the circle.

Another benefit of roundabouts is they often can handle more vehicles in an hour than a traditional intersection. Again, however, if traffic volume exceeds the design of the intersection, cars will be backed up trying to enter the circle.

The best and most compelling reason to build roundabouts is that they slow traffic to the point that casualties from intersection crashes drop dramatically. Now, that’s difficult to argue with.
The key, then, is for the governments that fund these projects to make sure the roundabouts can handle growth in traffic and to use common sense in deciding their location. The public also has an interest in efficient transportation.

Roundabouts should continue to be the exception rather than the rule.

Gwyn Mellinger is the chairwoman of the department of communications and mass media at Baker University. She is teaching this semester at Harlaxton College near Grantham, England, and can be reached at gwyn.mellinger@bakeru.edu.

Congratulations, Earl --

ITE Past President and former MWITE District Director Earl Newman has been selected as a Top Ten Public Works Leader for 2009 by the American Public Works Association (APWA). Formal award ceremonies for Earl will be held in Springfield, MO on May 18.

Earl will be the fourth past president of ITE to receive this recognition (others are David Gwynn, Ed Mueller, and Marshall Elizer).

Congratulations, Earl, on the receipt of this prestigeous award. You are well-deserving and an inspiration to us all!