The deer alert system Mn/DOT is testing in three locations consists of traditional deer warning signs with an amber beacon mounted on top. Photo provided by E.L. Lewis Enterprises

Motorists may stand a better chance of avoiding collisions with deer if an experimental deer alert system Mn/DOT is testing proves effective.

The deer alert system consists of traditional deer warning signs with an amber beacon mounted on top. Motion sensors are placed at the far edge of the ditch to create a sensory perimeter.  When a deer or other large animal crosses the path of the sensor, a transmitter activates the amber warning lights for about one minute. This serves as a visual caution to drivers to slow down to avoid animals approaching the roadway. The system is installed along both sides of the roadway to detect deer approaching from either direction.

After the systems are operational, additional advisory signs will notify drivers when they are entering a test area and that deer or other animals may be present when lights are flashing.

The new deer alert systems will be installed at three locations:

§         Highway 23 at Camden State Park southwest of Marshall  (underway)

§         Highway 63 south of Racine (late summer 2001 installation)

§         Highway 43 southeast of Winona (late summer 2001 installation)

Minnesota’s two-year trial of the new warning system and signs is the first in the nation, according to Bob Weinholzer, Office of Traffic Engineering. Each test site was selected based on a large deer population in the area and the number of crashes reported.

Approximately 20,000 vehicle/deer collisions are reported each year in the state, while an estimated 40,000 additional crashes are unreported. Two to three motorists’ deaths—the result of crashes or attempts to avoid collisions—are reported each year. The average vehicle damage cost in a non-injury crash is estimated at more than $2,000.

"If the deer alert system proves successful at reducing crashes and saving money for motorists, it could be installed at other areas with a high deer/motor vehicle collision rate," Weinholzer said. 

Twin Cities entrepreneur Erick Lewis of E.L. Lewis Enterprises developed the deer alert system. Lewis also invented a system to warn pedestrians about thin ice on Twin Cities area lakes.

By Kent Barnard

back

Streamlining creatively was the focus of the commissioner’s forum June 7 in Minneapolis. Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg kicked off the forum with a discussion about the importance of streamlining and how measuring the value of our efforts will help Mn/DOT and Minnesota work better.

Dave Labno from The Gatehouse Alliance discussed the importance of including creativity in all of our tasks to achieve the greatest outcomes. The speaker challenged the group to brainstorm ideas to design a better bathtub as an example of improving a tried-and-true product. Forum attendees, indeed, had numerous ideas for the bathtub improvement including making them self-cleaning and complete with cable TV. The point of the exercise was to encourage all of us to approach our jobs with a creative outlook, not overlooking the possibilities for improvement.

Del Gerdes, director of Mn/DOT’s project delivery streamlining team, updated the 157 managers in attendance on the seven areas his team is focusing on:

§         Consultant process improvements

§         Concurrent project development process

§         Environmental process streamlining

§         Organizational changes

§         Technology advances

§         Right-of-way process improvements

§         Construction plan content evaluation

Three offices—Bridges & Structures, Communications and Public Relations, and Land Management—gave Moving Mn/DOT performance update reports. Dan Dorgan, Shannon Beaudin Klein and Karl Rasmussen shared some of their key dashboards and how they are using these measures to manage and improve their outcomes. Doug Weiszhaar, Jim Swanson and Pat Hughes discussed how the use of measures and dashboards is helping the Program Support and Program Delivery groups work together efficiently and deliver better products and services to Mn/DOT’s customers.

As at previous commissioner’s forums, Mn/DOT groups recognized individuals and teams who they think have done an outstanding job of streamlining their projects and programs. The Program Support and Program Delivery Groups recognized the District 3 right-of-way section. The State Aid for Local Transportation Group recognized the Office of Bridges & Structures. The Management Operations Group recognized the Activity Code Reduction Task Force, and the Commissioner’s Office recognized the EEO Contract Management office.

The commissioner ended the forum answering questions from the audience. These questions and answers, plus those the commissioner did not have time to answer at the forum, will be provided in a future edition of Mn/DOT Newsline.

The commissioner’s comments at the forum were videotaped and will be made available to all offices and districts for viewing at staff meetings. The next commissioner’s forum will be held in a district location in September.

By Donna Lindberg

back

Choices, choices, choices. When there are more than 1,300 numbers to choose from, filling in the boxes on your timesheet can be time-consuming and confusing. Beginning July 1, however, a trimmed-down list of activity codes could help make preparing your timesheet both less confusing and more accurate.

“About 200 codes were eliminated a year ago in pilot efforts by the Office of Maintenance and the Audit Office,” according to Larry Moser, group business manager, Management Operations Group. “More recently, a committee charged with reducing coding efforts has eliminated more than 600 additional codes.”

That trimming effort was recognized last week at the Commissioner’s Forum for the interdisciplinary, inter-office committee that successfully reduced Mn/DOT’s Activity Codes list to about 400 codes. Committee members include Doug Bjornberg, Dennis Feit, MaryAnn Frasczak, Paul Leegard, Dave Munro, Judy Schmidt, Warren Skallman, Pam Tschida and Brenda Wrobel.

The streamlining effort occurred in stages over two years, said Moser, who co-chaired the committee along with Bonnie Kollmann, director, Financial Operations.

Another goal of the committee was to make it easier for employees to use codes accurately and consistently, Moser said. This goal led to a new, user-friendly list of activity codes that:

§         Defines each active code, and

§         Points to the replacement for each code that is now inactive.

Moser said that the committee welcomes employee suggestions for making it easier to use activity codes correctly. 

“We realize that we have not necessarily met our goal of having clear definitions for all codes in all cases,” Moser said. “If you see anything that we can clarify, tell your office manager or administrative manager.”

Click here to view the list of activity codes.

back

Today’s Employeeline carries information about the Touchstone Energy Bicycle Festival, co-sponsored by Mn/DOT, which is now underway through June 17.

You can find Information about the marriages, births, retirements, funerals and other milestones of your Mn/DOT co-workers online by clicking on Employee info on the left hand navigation bar of Mn/DOT Newsline.

Also included in Employeeline are listings of events of interest to Mn/DOT employees. Today’s edition, for example, carries information about the Touchstone Energy Bicycle Festival, co-sponsored by Mn/DOT, which is now underway in Blaine, Plainview and St. Paul through Sunday, June 17.

Because this information will change more frequently than Mn/DOT Newsline, you may want to bookmark Employeeline in your browser and check back often.

We need your help in keeping Employeeline up-to-date and useful. Click on the "Submit Information" button and send us your announcement, along with your name and phone number.

back

Question: I understand there is an idea in San Francisco that eases the traffic problems occuring in one direction during rush hours.  They use movable Jersey walls to convert "north" bound lanes to "south" bound lanes depending on time of day. They move the Jersey Walls with trucks having angled bumpers which slide the wall sections over while the trucks drive down the freeway.  In some areas this would provide lanes in the direction they are needed by using the non-congested side. 

Answer: Thank you for the suggestion and for raising this topic.  We are always interested in other agencies’ ideas and in employees’ suggestions.

For more than 30 years Mn/DOT has been trying many different approaches to ease rush hour congestion in the Twin Cities Metro Area. We also pay close attention to the results of approaches used by other urban transportation and public works agencies around the world. We often find intriguing ideas, especially from areas that are similar to the Twin Cities metropolitan area in the following ways:

§         Large or moderately-sized urban areas

§         Demand exceeds capacity on many freeway segments

§         Active in traffic management initiatives

§         Have traffic management (or traffic operations) centers

§         Located in the northern latitudes

The San Francisco area is one of the urban areas we watch, even though many of their demographics differ from ours. This is because they test and use an innovative mixture of congestion-easing tactics. For example, they use a wide array of freeway traffic management systems with many of the same features that we use. They have a Traffic Management Center for the Bay Area that is located in the District Office in Oakland, similar to our new Regional Traffic Management Center currently under construction at the Metro Division Headquarters in Roseville. They have HOV lanes and toll facilities that are of interest to us. They have the famous Bay Area Transit System, and also have held onto a portion of their cable drawn streetcar system, which is unique in the United States.

Some methods that work well for San Francisco are being used in the Twin Cities area, some have potential, but others look less likely. We have indeed heard of the approach you’ve suggested, which is also being used in Chicago, and we have had the vendor for this system present information to us.  We are prepared to use this movable barrier approach if the right situation arises. The main reason we haven’t been able to use this system in the Twin Cities is that many of our freeways do not have a large directional split, e.g. 70 percent of the traffic inbound in the morning and 30 percent outbound. Ours are more like 55 percent inbound and 45 percent outbound, so the “reverse direction” would have substantial capacity shortfall if we took a lane away and gave it to the other direction.  The geometric constraints of wide medians are another reason we have not used the movable barriers.

Some of the traffic management initiatives that have worked well in both the Bay Area and here are surveillance via traffic detectors and CCTV monitoring, ramp metering, changeable message signs, freeway service patrols (“Highway Helpers”), and traveler information via radio, TV and web sites. Incident management programs emphasizing quick detection, response, and removal have been very effective, and future emphasis on corridor traffic control also shows a great deal of potential.

~Glen Carlson, Metro Division Traffic Engineer

Click here to view previous questions of the week.

back