District 10 Newsletter

Fall 2012

Serving the transporta�on stakeholders in Athens, Gallia,

Hocking, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Noble, Vinton &

Washington Coun�es.

While the official start of winter is months away, the Ohio Department of Trans-portation (ODOT) is hard at work readying its snow-fighting equipment and its 3,000 snowplow drivers for the upcoming snow and ice season. Over the next several weeks, ODOT District 10 will con-duct 150-point inspections, test, and fine-tune snow re-moval equipment as part of county-by-county Operational Readiness Events. “Although last winter was mild, Ohio weather is unpre-dictable,” said ODOT Direc-tor Jerry Wray. “By ensuring our equipment is fully func-tional and our drivers are

trained, motorists can be as-sured roads will be safe and passable from the first snow-storm to the last.” ODOT will make history this winter by being the first state in the nation to use green-colored strobe lights on its snowplow trucks. Studies show green lights are more easily detected by the human eye than other colors. The new green lights, along with new white lights, will be add-ed to the existing amber lights creating a color combination unique to ODOT. “The change to multi-colored lights was driven by the number of vehicles rear-ending ODOT’s plow trucks,” said ODOT District 10 Depu-

ty Director T. Steve Williams. “Ohio has four times the number of rear-end collisions as our neighboring states.” Thanks to Governor John R. Kasich’s Mid-Biennium Re-view (MBR), use of the multi-colored lights on snowplow trucks, when operated on highways, is now law. The MBR was a top-to-bottom re-view of state government agencies and programs. Through this process, the Governor and his cabinet found a number of significant changes to reform outdated policies.

ODOT Gives Snowplows, Drivers Green Light for Winter

Central Office Communications

Ohio Department of Transportation

District 10 • 338 Muskingum Drive • District 10 • 338 Muskingum Drive • District 10 • 338 Muskingum Drive • District 10 • 338 Muskingum Drive •

Marietta, Ohio 45750 • (740) 568Marietta, Ohio 45750 • (740) 568Marietta, Ohio 45750 • (740) 568Marietta, Ohio 45750 • (740) 568----3900390039003900 John R. Kasich, Governor • Jerry Wray, Director • John R. Kasich, Governor • Jerry Wray, Director • John R. Kasich, Governor • Jerry Wray, Director • John R. Kasich, Governor • Jerry Wray, Director •

T. Steve Williams, P.E., District Deputy DirectorT. Steve Williams, P.E., District Deputy DirectorT. Steve Williams, P.E., District Deputy DirectorT. Steve Williams, P.E., District Deputy Director ODOT is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Provider of services

The Ohio Department of Trans-portation (ODOT) announced that state and local governments are projected to save more than $10 million this winter as a result of a change in the way salt con-tracts are obtained. In the past, ODOT asked salt companies to bid on contracts on a county-by-county basis. This year, the agency gave salt compa-nies the option to provide bids on entire ODOT districts in addition to individual counties. The result is a statewide savings of $13.11 per ton of salt, which adds up to $10,159,700. “We never truly know what Mother Nature has in store for us each season, but one thing we do know is that ODOT will be fully prepared and our work this winter will cost Ohio taxpayers less

money,” said ODOT Director Jerry Wray. “This is yet another example of how we are demon-strating our success of identifying efficiencies here at ODOT so that we can provide the same great level of service to our customers but do it at a lower cost.” Last year, the state averaged $54.02 per ton of salt ordered. This year, the statewide average is $40.91 per ton. In addition to lower costs for ODOT, local gov-ernments will also realize signifi-cant savings because many of them combine their salt needs with ODOT’s in order to improve purchasing power. In addition to the lower price per ton, ODOT alone expects to purchase 209,000 tons less salt this coming winter. Since last

year’s winter was so mild, huge

stockpiles of salt already exist.

District 10 Deputy Di-

rector Steve Williams

started his career with

ODOT in 1981 as a

summer student in the Morgan County garage.

He began the Engineer-in-Training program in

1987, after completing the program he served as

the Assistant District 10 Bridge Engineer. Steve

also served as a Project Engineer and constructed

several projects including the Haydenville By-

pass.

In 1995, he was promoted to an Area Construc-

tion Engineer and again in 2000 to the District

Construction Engineer. He’s overseen nearly 856

million dollars in contracts including some of

District 10’s largest projects to-date such as the

US33 corridor, ER flood work of 2004-2006,

The Pomeroy Mason Bridge, and the Nelsonville

Bypass.

Steve has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engi-

neering from Ohio University, is a Licensed Pro-

fessional Engineer and a Surveyor-In-Training.

He resides on a farm near Malta with his wife

Valerie. They have 7 grandchildren. Steve enjoys

golf, hunting, and bluegrass music.

Meet The DDD

Brenna K. Slavens, District 10 Communications

ODOT Saves $10 Million in Salt Costs for Upcoming WinterODOT Saves $10 Million in Salt Costs for Upcoming WinterODOT Saves $10 Million in Salt Costs for Upcoming WinterODOT Saves $10 Million in Salt Costs for Upcoming Winter

Central Office Communications

ODOT, as part of updating its long-range transportation plan, is seeking public comment on the future of Ohio’s transportation system. Access Ohio 2040, the newest version of ODOT’s long-range transportation plan, is currently being updated and expected to be finalized summer of 2013. The plan will help set the stage for ODOT transportation policies and investment strategies for the coming years. Access

Ohio 2040 is an update to the previous plan, Access Ohio 2030, which was released in 2004. The new plan will include the latest data to forecast trends and analyze issues affecting transportation throughout the state. The public will be given multiple opportunities over the next year to provide input into the development of Access Ohio 2040. A survey on customer preferences for the future of transportation in Ohio is

currently available on the Access Ohio Web site, www.access.ohio.gov In addition, Access Ohio outpost locations are set up across the state to allow the public an opportunity to review and comment on the latest plan documents. Locations include ODOT district headquarters as well as select other locations. Locations in our region are: • ODOT District 10 338 Muskingum Dr. Marietta, Ohio 45750

ODOT seeks public comment on Long-Range

Transportation Plan

David Rose, Central Office Communications

It was around 7:30 a.m., and highway tech-nicians Darin Burkhart and Kurt Hooper of Dis-trict 10 were on their way to their job site on State Route 7. It was June 6 and the start of a regular day.

That’s when they no-ticed that section of guardrail. It looked like it had been in a collision, only there was no car in sight. The two men con-tinued with their job du-ties, setting up the signs and documenting the damaged guardrail on their daily log.

Almost two hours later, while Burkhart was on the brush mower, he no-ticed a vehicle over a nearby hill with some-one inside. Though it had collided with the guardrail, it had not been visible from the road. The two men immediate-ly ran to the vehicle, and, seeing that the oc-cupant was injured, Hooper called for an am-bulance and emergency responders. Both work-ers stayed with the in-jured man until emer-gency responders arrived to take the driver to the hospital.

There was no way to tell how long he’d been stuck there, or if he would have been found in time had it not been for the two ODOT techs on the scene.

“The integrity shown by Darin and Kurt is not something we see every day,” said Steve Wil-liams, District 10 Deputy Director. “One can only hope that if they’re ever in a situation similar to this one, they are lucky enough to be helped by somebody with the in-tegrity and intelligence of these two men.”

Not Your Everyday Heroes

Brenna K. Slavens, District 10 Communications

Darin

Burkhart

Kurt Hooper