District 6 employees Rhonda Prestegard and Dale Prestegard present a "check" to Gov. Ventura on Sept. 27. District 6 employees raised $2,330 in a two-week period to help the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Photo by Brian Jergenson

Gov. Jesse Ventura and several of his commissioners (including Commissioner Elwyn Tinklenberg) munched on brats and kraut, and mingled with District 6 employees in Rochester Sept. 27. The lunch was prepared and served by District 6’s own ‘Brat Boys.’

The governor’s visit to District 6 was one of several stops during a two-day tour of southeastern Minnesota.

In light of the tragic events on Sept. 11, there was a strong spirit of patriotism in the air during his visit to Rochester. The governor told employees he was activating the National Guard that day to provide security at Minnesota’s largest airports. He also applauded the efforts of Mn/DOT and District 6 employees for the work they do, and encouraged them to take extra security precautions in the days ahead.

District 6 employees Dale Prestegard and Rhonda Prestegard presented Gov. Ventura with a replica check representing the amount District 6 employees had contributed thus far toward relief efforts for victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies. The total amount employees contributed was more than $2,300, which was sent to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund.

The governor also received a District 6 jacket from the district management team and a Ted Foss memorial T-shirt from the State Patrol. Foss was a state trooper killed in August 2000 in a work zone accident on I-90 in Winona County.

By Brian Jergenson, District 6 public affairs coordinator

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The two-week strike of AFSCME and MAPE employees ended when employees returned to work this week. But the effects of the work stoppage on striking and non-striking employees and managers will still be evident for days, even weeks to come.

"It has been a difficult time for everyone and each one of us has been negatively affected in some way," said Linda Bjornberg, director of Mn/DOT’s Management Operations Group. "If you find it difficult to move past the issues related to the strike, speak with your supervisor or access the many resources available."

If you have questions about work place issues at Mn/DOT or have other human resources related concerns or needs you can leave a voicemail message on a new Hotline at 651/296-3100. This is a confidential line answered only by Human Resources Director Mark Carlson or Assistant Director Rich Peterson.

Get information about "Regaining Momentum after the Strike," on the HR on the Web Intranet site. You’ll find information about:

• Frequently asked questions. Employees are encouraged to e-mail questions, which will be answered daily.

• Dealing with conflict

• State settlement offers

• Minnesota’s new Advantage insurance plan

• Mn/DOT human resources contacts, Mn/DOT insurance contacts and links to the Department of Employee Relations, unions and credit union Web sites

• State Employee Assistance Program return to work assistance.

By Donna Lindberg

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In the wake of the terrorist attack in New York, five members of Mn/DOT’s Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Team will provide support to employees of the New York Department of Transportation transit office who worked in or near the World Trade Center when it was destroyed on Sept. 11.

Three of the office’s 60 employees who worked on the 82nd floor of Tower One in the center are missing and presumed dead.

The CISD team was formed in1990. Its members have provided support to Mn/DOT employees following fatal accidents, incidents of work place violence and the aftermath of major storms and floods.

In New York, team members led by DeLorah Curry, staff psychologist, Human Resources, will work with survivors to help them deal with their loss and their experience of grief, anger, fear and other emotions.

The work done by a debriefing team relatively soon after an event, she said, can help prevent long-term problems associated with post-traumatic stress syndrome such as anxiety, sleep disorders and irritability.

Other team members traveling to New York with Curry are Brad Powers, transportation generalist, Windom; Dick Lehmann, heavy equipment mechanic, Bemidji; Tony Kilpela, heavy equipment mechanic, Virginia, and Kay McDonald, information technology specialist/project manager, Information Resource Management.

McDonald, a member of the team for seven years, said the team will use its standard methods to help NYDOT employees describe their experience of the incident and express their thoughts and feelings since Sept. 11.

"I’m hoping that we as peers, not professional counselors, can do what we can to help people out any way we can," she said.

Curry said the team will meet with four groups of employees during its visit and conduct a wrap-up meeting with the management to review the process and to provide the staff with information about local resources to aid in their recovery.

The visit, she added, also represents a goodwill gesture of help from one state transportation department to another.

Anticipating the stress the visit may cause for the Mn/DOT team, Curry said the group itself will meet with staff from the American Red Cross when members return from New York.

"We plan to have our debriefing team debriefed by the Red Cross," she said.

By Craig Wilkins

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The I-394 reversible HOV lane (seen here in the middle of the photo) is part of a study to determine the benefits and drawbacks of opening high occupancy vehicle lanes in the Twin Cities to all traffic. Photo courtesy of Mn/DOT's Traffic Management Center

Massachusetts-based Cambridge Systematics, the consulting firm that led Mn/DOT’s ramp meter study, is also leading a study to determine the benefits and drawbacks of opening the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on I-394 and I-35W in the Twin Cities to all traffic.

Market research, computer modeling and simulation, and data from other states with HOV lanes will be used to conduct the study. A technical group representing Mn/DOT, the Metropolitan Council, Metro Commuter Services, Metro Transit, private bus companies, the State Patrol and Hennepin County will guide the work.

According to Metro Division project manager Paul Czech, the study began last month and will be completed in time for presentation during the 2002 legislative session. The scope of the study is to determine the impact of opening the lanes to general traffic, including the effects on traffic flow and congestion, transit and car pool use and traffic safety.

"We have asked Cambridge Systematics to develop a computer model/ simulation analysis that will be used to estimate the impacts of opening HOV lanes to all traffic on actual transportation system performance of affected highway corridors," Czech said. "This is not a simple task given the complexities of the HOV lanes including that portion of I-394 where there is a reversible lane.

"At the same time," he said, "we are proceeding with market research. A significant part of the market research is to determine if opening the HOV lanes to general traffic would cause bus riders and car poolers to forgo their current travel habits in favor of single occupancy vehicles."

The $100,000 study was ordered by the Minnesota Legislature to see how opening the bus and car pool lanes would affect traffic flow and safety on the interstates. Opening the I-394 and I-35W HOV lanes to general traffic was not an option because the legislation includes language prohibiting Mn/DOT from conducting such a study if it affects federal funding. The Federal Highway Administration made it clear last August that Minnesota would lose all new federal funding for projects in the Twin Cities metro area for as long as occupancy requirements were suspended on the lanes.

Czech added that early findings indicate that the results on I-35W will be very different from those on I-394 not only because of the physical differences of the corridors, but also because of differing incentives to use HOV options. I-394, for instance, ends in Minneapolis at the three public parking garages behind Target Center. The garages offer significant car pool parking discounts. On the other hand, the I-35W HOV lanes serve commuters traveling through Burnsville, Bloomington and Richfield.

For more information contact Paul Czech at 651/582-1771.

By Jeanne Aamodt

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Mn/DOT's Office of Investment Management will soon begin to gather information from local partners and transportation stakeholders that will help update the 20-year Statewide Transportation Plan by January 2003. The State Plan provides the framework for transportation planning and sets the state's overall direction for capital investments. The goal of updating the State Plan is to establish a performance measurement framework for system-wide planning that guides investments.

"A State Plan that looks at system performance will help Mn/DOT develop guidelines that more directly meet the needs of our customers," said Al Schenkelberg, director, Investment Management. "It will help us get a clearer picture of where to invest our limited funds."

Input will also be gathered more directly from the public to help draft the new plan.

"People want to be given the choice to get involved in transportation planning," said Karla Rains, Market Research Unit. "They also want the information they need to make reasonable transportation decisions."

The consultant firm SRF has been hired to help Mn/DOT in developing the State Plan. They will assist in redefining Mn/DOT's transportation policies to reflect the strategic objectives and align with other statewide goals. A draft of the 2003 State Plan will be developed for public response in 2002.

"The Commissioner will talk with key stakeholders about Mn/DOT's Moving Minnesota vision for transportation at forums in each Mn/DOT district," said Judy Melander, community relations director, Communications and Public Relations. "We will also seek input from non-traditional stakeholders. And finally, we will work with the local media to educate Minnesota citizens about how they can get involved in transportation planning."

Added Schenkelberg: "The new State Plan will focus more on Mn/DOT's directions to safeguard what exists, make the transportation network work better and make Mn/DOT work better. In order to do this, we must find new ways to manage our resources and spend taxpayer dollars more wisely. The 2003 State Plan will help us do a better job of this."

For information about the 2003 State Plan, contact Mitch Webster in the Office of Investment Management at 651/296-2201.

By Donna Lindberg

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Some students scurrying about the Minnesota State University-Mankato campus this fall are headed to a new destination—classes leading to a degree in civil engineering. The university started its new civil engineering curriculum at the beginning of the school year and is the first Minnesota college, with the exception of the University of Minnesota, to offer the degree.

Jon Huseby, Mankato district engineer, said the new program in Mankato will help meet the need to train new civil engineers who are more likely to remain in Minnesota—and Greater Minnesota in particular—than engineers trained at the University of Minnesota or at neighboring schools such as South Dakota State University and North Dakota State University.

First graduates from the new program are expected in 2003.

Minnesota State University students may now choose civil engineering among other disciplines such as computer, electrical and mechanical engineering. The new civil engineering curriculum offers concentrations in hydrology, transportation and structural engineering.

Huseby worked with university officials to develop the new curriculum. He will also participate in an engineering seminar each semester.

"I feel fortunate to be on the university’s civil engineering advisory board and to represent Mn/DOT as an employer," Huseby said.

By Craig Wilkins

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White bread, wheat bread,
Pumpernickel, challah;
All for Minnesota,
Stand up and hollah!!

The Nov. 3 football game between the University of Minnesota and the Buckeyes of Ohio State at the Metrodome in Minneapolis will feature Big Ten style play, pageantry and a barrage of timely messages about winter work zone safety. (Sources say, however, that the event will not feature the cheer above, modified from one in Phillip Roth’s novel, Goodbye, Columbus.)

The messages will come in the form of a snowplow displayed outside the Metrodome, an information booth staffed by Mn/DOT employees inside the Dome and frequent public address and scoreboard announcements during the game.

Game time, which depends on whether the contest is televised nationally, will be announced next week.

The event comprises part of Mn/DOT’s ‘Stay Back, Stay Alive’ winter work zone safety campaign.

Employees from Mn/DOT and other state agencies may attend the game and have a hotdog and pop for a special $11 ticket.

The event also includes a pre-game party on the Metrodome Plaza that includes food, games, the U of M marching band, cheerleaders and Goldy the Gopher.

For tickets, call 612/626-2222 or toll-free, 800/U-GOPHER.

By Craig Wilkins

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A snowplow driver maneuvers through the "roadeo" obstacle course Sept. 27, smoothly avoiding mailboxes along the route. Photo by Kent Barnard

Mn/DOT snowplow operators joined maintenance forces from local governments around the state in late September for the annual two-day Fall Maintenance Expo in St. Cloud. The event brings maintenance staff from state, city, county, township and tribal governments together to learn from each other and compete in the snowfighter roadeo.

Participants also were able to view exhibits and attend lectures and workshops on diverse topics such as defensive driving, intelligent vehicle initiatives and driver ergonomics. More than an acre of outdoor display area featuring snowplowing and other road maintenance equipment rounded out the event.

Fourteen Mn/DOT snowplow operators from Duluth, Metro Division, St. Cloud and Windom were among the 144 contestants in this year’s roadeo. The event is timed as snowplow drivers move through an obstacle course designed to test their driving and snow-clearing skills. Drivers maneuvered their vehicles around mailboxes, through a narrowing alley of cones and backed up through barricades while avoiding obstacles along the way.

When the dust cleared, the top three drivers were Dave Boll from the city of Litchfield; Mike Schmidt from the city of Eden Prairie; and Chad Havel from the city of Oakdale.

And with the Fall Maintenance Expo behind them, Minnesota’s hardy snowfighters are prepared to do battle with the best winter has to give.

By Kent Barnard

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