By Chris Joyce

Minnesota’s, and arguably the nation’s, most-talked-about bridge is now open for business just 340 days after construction began.

Shortly after 5 a.m. on Sept. 18, and amid much honking of horns, a procession of State Patrol cars, ambulances, fire trucks, Mn/DOT trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles became the first official traffic on the new Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis.

“We have completed an incredible undertaking that was triggered 13 months ago by inconceivable tragedy,” Commissioner Tom Sorel said in a note to Mn/DOT employees. “While we marvel at what has been accomplished in so short a time, we also remember the lives that were abruptly changed a year ago.”

The commissioner credited the success of the $234 million project to “team work at all levels,” including state, local and federal partners and the contractors, the Figg Engineering Group and the Flatiron-Manson Joint Venture team.

“The Mn/DOT project oversight team, led by Jon Chiglo, was especially critical to this project’s success. I am extremely proud of the team, which spent many hours on the work site to ensure that the bridge was built to high standards,” he said.

The 1,223-foot structure includes a 504-foot main span across the Mississippi River and is composed of 48,700 cubic yards of high-performance concrete—enough to construct eight miles of a two-lane road. At 189 feet wide, it carries 10 lanes of traffic, five in each direction—two more than the previous bridge carried.

In addition, the structure was built to last at least 100 years and is equipped with a state-of-the-art sensor and monitoring system that will allow for easier and more comprehensive monitoring throughout the bridge’s lifetime.

“To me, it’s a big testament to human will—what you can do if you really put your mind to it,” said Kevin Gutknecht, the bridge’s chief spokesman.

Since its opening, traffic has been steady but lighter than the previous bridge, which carried about 140,000 vehicles daily.

“So far we are seeing about 70 to 75 percent of the traffic returning to the 35W corridor,” said Brian Kary, Mn/DOT’s freeway operations engineer. “I would expect more traffic to return to the bridge as time goes on.”

Kary said that, after this week, Mn/DOT will be looking at congestion levels system-wide to see what has changed.  

For more facts and history about the building of the bridge, visit http://projects.dot.state.mn.us/35wbridge/index.html.

The I-35W bridge Web cam, which includes a time-lapsed video of the building of the bridge, will be available to viewers through the end of September. To view, go to http://projects.dot.state.mn.us/35wbridge/webcam.html.

By Lisa Yang

The League of American Bicyclists ranked Minnesota as the fifth best bicycle friendly state for 2008, the first year of its rankings.

The league cited Minnesota’s policies requiring bike parking at state buildings, state funding for the installation of bike racks, exemplary bike-safety laws and statewide partnerships and efforts to protect and promote cyclists as reasons for the award.

The league ranked states in six categories: legislation, policies and programs, infrastructure, education and encouragement, evaluation and planning, and enforcement.

“We hope that everyone will use our ranking to raise awareness of bicycle safety and accommodation,” said Elizabeth Preston, League of American Bicyclists spokesperson.

Coming in as the number one bicycle friendly state was Washington. Rounding out the top four were Wisconsin, Arizona and Oregon.

Wheeling it to work

Mike Schadauer, director of the Office of Transit, has been biking to work year-round since he started as a student worker at Mn/DOT in 1983.

“I was taking the bus, but as a student, I didn’t want to spend my money on bus passes everyday,” said Schadauer. “So, I started biking instead.”

Schadauer currently lives in Minneapolis and bikes to Mn/DOT’s Central Office if conditions allow.

“I won’t bike when it’s very icy on the roads, or if it’s too cold,” said Schadauer. “I can’t take it if it’s lower than 10 degrees. I just ride the bus or drive myself.”

Schadauer, along with another Mn/DOT biker, David Larson, senior landscape architect, Technical Support, uses bicycle lockers that Mn/DOT has available for its employees.

Mn/DOT Central Office bicycle lockers are rented through the Department of Administration; currently, there is a waiting list for them.

“Having bike lockers and a locker room facility at CO is great,” said Larson, who has been riding to work for about 12 years now and feels that it’s a great way to exercise.

“I build two 35-minute cardio workouts into my daily schedule,” he said. “Compared to driving my vehicle, I only increase my total daily commute time by 15 minutes, but I gain a 70-minute workout.”

Schadauer noted that the Office of Transit is putting together a program to provide transportation alternatives to Minnesotans.

“Important issues and goals right now include incorporating safe bicycle and pedestrian space in roadways and bridges where appropriate, developing and publicizing a network of scenic bikeways in and across Minnesota, and encouraging safe use of roadways by motorists and bicyclists through the Share the Road program,” he said.

“We’re working to keep people thinking about bicycles as they design transportation facilities. We have also developed bicycle design guidelines and a bicycle modal plan.”

“More education and enforcement related to Share the Road would be a good thing,” agreed Larson. “I’d give Minnesota an eight for satisfaction.”

For more information about “Share the Road,” go to http://www.sharetheroadmn.org/.

For more information about bikeways, design, planning and funding, go to http://www.dot.state.mn.us/bike/.

A campaign led by the Office of Transit to increase transit use and other options over driving alone earned honors recently from the national Association for Commuter Transportation.

The campaign focused on Greater Minnesota during the yearly Commuter Challenge “Try It” promotion.

This year, the marketing effort focused on four Greater Minnesota cities: Rochester, Alexandria, Brainerd and Northfield, said Jarvis Keys, program coordinator, Transit.

“Smaller cities in Greater Minnesota don’t have rush hour traffic congestion levels like we do in the Twin Cities, so we promoted using transit and carpooling for ‘getting around’ to destinations such as shopping, church or public events as well as for commuting to work or school,” he said.

Transit enlisted support from schools, employers, transit system operators and Mn/DOT’s district transit and public affairs coordinators to spread the campaign message.

Materials included eye-catching posters and “how to” guides for each mode of travel.

The Commuter Challenge program was started in 2005.

By Lucy Kender, Human Resources

Government employees make up 18 percent of the nation’s workforce. However, instances of workplace violence in government agencies represent 30 percent of all reported cases.

This statistic, along with much more about workplace violence, was discussed during Mn/DOT’s 2008 Workplace Violence Prevention and Response Annual Training Seminar, Sept. 17, in St. Cloud.

“I wish we didn’t have to be here; I wish violence in the workplace weren’t an issue at Mn/DOT,” said Bob Winter, champion of the department’s Violent Incident Advisory Team.

“But, it’s our obligation to be aware of this issue and take appropriate steps in its prevention and response. Plus, it’s the right thing to do.”

All too often workplace violence is reported in the news, Winter noted.

“We’re fortunate that Mn/DOT has not made the headlines for this reason,” he said. “Raising awareness of the issue is vital to the prevention of such incidents.”

Winter was joined by more than 50 other Mn/DOT supervisors and managers from across the agency to do just that—raise awareness by discussing the issue and learning prevention techniques.

“One of the best methods of learning about violence prevention and response in the workplace is by sharing lessons learned,” said DeLorah Curry, organizational health specialist, Office of Human Resources.

Curry and Rosemarie Merrigan, conflict resolution coordinator, Office of Affirmative Action, facilitated small group discussions on practical tips for workplace violence prevention based upon real life incidents at Mn/DOT.

The small groups covered topics such as domestic spillover; outside influences; bullying behaviors; disgruntled former employees; employees expressing dissatisfaction with management; disrespectful, sarcastic, passive/aggressive behaviors in the workplace; verbal threats (covert and overt), and contemplating putting an employee on administrative paid leave.

Additionally, some of these issues were brought to light in a dramatic presentation from a group called “Theatre at Work.” Their presentation showed what can happen when bullying behavior goes unchecked.

“The Violent Incident Advisory Team provides resources for prevention and response to violent incidents,” said Karin van Dyck, labor relations manager and VIAT chair. “Our goal for seminars such as this is to raise the awareness level of the issue and to equip people with the tools and resources they need to stop small, everyday annoyances from growing into potentially violent incidents.”

See Mn/DOT’s Violent Incident Advisory Team’s Web site at http://ihub.dot.state.mn.us/viat/.

By Craig Wilkins

The graduates accepted their certificates, stepped off the stage and then turned to meet with waiting potential employers.

A few of the graduates, though, skipped the job fair because they already had job offers before their five-week course of study ended.

The 11 graduates comprised the first class to complete the Transportation Opportunity Training program created by Mn/DOT’s Office of Civil Rights, the White Earth Indian Reservation and several other partners.

Classes were held at the Minnesota State Community and Technical College at Detroit Lakes . During their training, the students studied math, reading comprehension, conflict resolution and other skills. They also learned truck driving skills and met other requirements to obtain a commercial driver’s license.

Officials from the Department of Public Safety joined college faculty to conduct the two-day testing period after classes ended.

The students included Somali and Liberian immigrants as well as Native Americans. Three of the graduates are women.

They were referred to the program by White Earth’s employment office and Lutheran Social Services to qualify for road maintenance jobs with tribal, state and county governments and private-sector contractors.

Graduates are also eligible for on-the-job training placement with contractors.

“This program increases the diversity of the hiring pool in the region and will help contractors meet federal and state goals for employing women and minority group members on federally funded construction projects,” said Ashanti Payne, project manager with the Office of Civil Rights.

The White Earth Reservation stretches across Mahnomen, Clearwater and Becker counties northwest of Detroit Lakes.

The class was supported by a $72,000 workforce development grant from the FHWA and staff and equipment provided by Detroit Lakes/District 4.

“We believe this program may be the first of its kind in the nation,” Payne said.

The germ of the program emerged when Lee Berget, district engineer at Detroit Lakes, developed the concept during a leadership training session.

“The TOT program is unique because it condenses several subject areas into a five-week program to qualify graduates from areas of high unemployment for entry-level highway maintenance jobs,” Payne said.

Success with the first class has generated requests to replicate it in other areas.

“We’re ready to conduct a second class or more if we can get the financial and in-kind support we received for the first one,” Payne said.

At the Minnesota State Fair this year, Mn/DOT asked visitors to its exhibit the Big Question: If you had $1 to spend on transportation, how would you spend it?

Fair goers were given choices for where they could spend all or a percentage of their dollar:

• Making roads safer
• Making roads smoother
• Making travel time more predictable
• Other

Of the more than 500 responses Mn/DOT received, the majority indicated that safety was their top priority, while making roads smoother ranked second. In the "other" category, public transportation was identified most often as another way to spend the transportation dollar.

“The survey was very informal, but offers some insight on what fair goers thought of transportation spending in our state,” noted Commissioner Tom Sorel.