The week of May 21-27, we celebrate our public works heroes "Connecting the World Through Public Works." Every public works professional strives to improve the quality of life for the community they serve, leading to healthier, happier communities.

The "Connecting the World Through Public Works" theme highlights the way public works professionals connect us physically, through infrastructure, and inspirationally, through service to their communities, whether as first responders, or daily workers carrying out their duties with pride.

Public works connectors help keep communities strong by providing an infrastructure of services in transportation, water, wastewater, and stormwater treatment, public buildings and spaces, parks and grounds, emergency management and first response, solid waste, and right-of-way management. They are what make our communities great places to live and work. Join us in celebrating the quiet work these professionals do that makes life better for all of us.

Shared from APWA.net

How to Recognize Your Public Works Staff

Take time to recognize your staff this month. Check out some great ways to do so:

Ask elected officials to make a proclamation.
Hold an environmental campaign to improve the community.
Create an exhibit to spotlight recent successes.
Host a Roadeo/ Equipment show.
Hold an open house.
Celebrate employee appreciation day.
Hold a sporting event such as a fun run or a golf tournament.
Involve the schools with a T-shirt design contest, equipment show and tell, or job shadowing.

Click here for a full list of resources.

Pictured left to right are Glenn Hawkins, Tommy Tipton, Mike Bast, Lonnie Shelton, Jerry Waldridge, Johnny Stratton, Tyler Ackerman with the Anderson County Road Department.

Pictured left to right are Ricky Marr, Troy Vittioe, and Dean Britt with the Allen County Road Department.

Chainsaw Participants Win

"Golden Wedge" Award

T2 held our Chainsaw Safety Clinic at the end of April with 30 participants from cities, counties, and KYTC in attendance. Day 1 consisted of a classroom discussion covering PPE, saw safety features, and planning adjustments. Days 2 and 3 were spent outdoors practicing felling, limbing, bucking, and other skills.

Congratulations to Daniel Doss with the city of Frankfort and Kevin Payne with Daviess County for winning the "Golden Wedge" award by achieving the highest cumulative scores across several skill sets throughout the week.

Special thanks to Hardin County for providing the cutting site.

Webinar Wednesday

Customer Service

May 10, 2023

9am - 10am EST

Sometimes the most important thing you can do is take care of your people. Business does not always take care of the right people. Come listen to some helpful insight on what makes the best Customer Service!

All Webinar Wednesdays, ranging from Social Media to Winter Weather Preparedness, are open for registration.

Attend the May 10 Customer Service and register for all eight webinars today.

Overview of Data & Tools

Find out more information about the program.

Once you have completed all requirements (or to find out your status in the program), email Brittany Cloyd.

May 24, 2023

9am - 11am EST

Transportation professionals use a data-driven approach to safety. Learn about the different types of data, data challenges for local agencies, and the various tools available for network screening. Discussions include Highway Safety Manual, usRAP, Road Safety Audits, Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool, and Crash Tree Maker.

This Month is the Last Chance to Win

Have you or one of your co-workers recently built an innovative gadget or developed an improved way to do a job?

Projects can be anything from the development of tools, equipment modification, and/or processes that increase safety, reduce cost, improve efficiency, and improve the quality of transportation.

T2 wants to share your innovations as part of the Build a Better Mousetrap Competition, recently rebranded as the Innovation Celebration, and it's time to turn in your submissions for 2023 innovations.

The winner for Kentucky will be elevated to

compete for national recognition.

Applications are due on 5/19/23, so apply now!

Email Janet.Ferguson@uky.edu for application assistance.

Submit your Innovation Celebration application.

KTC Research:

Incorporating Crash Severity and Continuous Improvement of SHIFT

The Strategic Highway Investment Formula for Tomorrow (SHIFT) is the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's data-informed approach for comparing capital improvement projects and prioritizing limited transportation funds. This project redefines the SHIFT crash data safety metric, increasing the weight of serious (KAB) crashes while still accounting for the potential to reduce less serious crashes. It also attends to the five-year and ultimate goals of Kentucky’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan by developing a metric sensitive to these policy goals.

Learn more about the new SHIFT crash data safety metric.