- Congratulations, Graduates!
- Signal Spotlight: Collaboration is Key
- Safety Matters: A New Report on Relationship Between Pedestrian Safety and Speed
- Warren's Words of Wisdom: Storm Story
- NEW Tailgate Talk: Preventing Cold Weather Trips, Slips and Falls
- Innovation Station: Pennsylvania Data Show Roundabouts Reduce Crashes
- Winter Driving Safety: Build An Emergency Car Kit
- Happy Holidays from the T2 Center Team
|
|
|
|
Congratulations, Graduates!
|
|
|
|
On November 14, 2019, we honored 149 transportation professionals who completed one or more of our six certificate programs in 2019.
Programs Completed:
- Public Works Academy
- Road Master Program
- Road Scholar Program
- Legal Traffic Authority Program
- Transportation Leadership Program
- Safety Academy Program
The T2 Center's
website
has been updated with graduates' names, programs and pictures.
|
|
|
|
|
Signal Spotlight: Collaboration is Key
|
For municipalities, operations and maintenance of traffic signals often requires inter-departmental coordination. The Public Works, Engineering, Police and Fire departments each have their own leadership, funding sources, and objectives, which sometimes creates a challenge.
|
This month we’d like to feature the Town of Fairfield, where the Public Works Department (which includes Engineering) and the Police Department recently held a meeting to discuss Fairfield’s traffic signal assets. William Hurley, Engineering Manager for the Town of Fairfield, facilitated the discussion in the Engineering conference room. This year, those around the table included Captain Robert Kalamaras of the Police Department, Lazarus Pittman from CTDOT Traffic, Theresa Schwartz, P.E., P.T.O.E. of the T2 Center, as well as Meghan Sloan, AICP and Devin Clarke from the Metropolitan Council of Governments (MetroCOG).
|
I
f you have traffic signal systems questions, please contact:
Theresa Schwartz, P.E., P.T.O.E. - Traffic Signal Circuit Rider
|
A New Report on Relationship Between Pedestrian Safety and Speed
|
The Transportation Research Board's National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) recently released a synthesis entitled "Pedestrian Safety Relative to Traffic-Speed Management," which available to download on their
website
.
The report provides valuable information on the relationship between driver speed and pedestrian safety, discusses the benefits of a Safe System approach, and outlines strategies and countermeasures to address pedestrian safety through speed management. Local agencies can find best practices, tools, and strategies that can be used to redesign streets in order to lower speeds and improve pedestrian safety.
|
Per Watch For Me CT’s December newsletter: “This time of year is darker, and road conditions are often icy or snowy. Also, since holidays mean gathering with loved ones, more people are on the roads, and more traffic equals more crashes. Holiday shopping brings more people walking in parking lots, and people in a holiday rush may be speeding.”
"The holiday season also tends to include celebrations involving alcohol, which can lead to more impaired drivers and pedestrians on the roads. In one analysis, NHTSA found that usually there are about 36 fatalities a day from crashes involving alcohol impaired drivers, but that number increased to 45 per day during the three days around Christmas and jumped to 54 per day over the New Year’s holiday period. DUI arrests are at their highest between Thanksgiving and the end of New Year’s weekend."
Whether you're the driver or the pedestrian, always be alert and attentive. Everyone deserves to reach their destination!
|
If you have any questions about local road safety concerns, you can contact:
|
|
|
|
Storm Story
by Warren Rogers, C.S.P.
|
|
|
|
One decent sized tree + water soaked ground + wind = down tree on wires.
|
|
|
|
NEW Tailgate Talk: Preventing Cold Weather Trips, Slips and Falls
|
|
|
|
The T2 Center has published our newest Tailgate Talk informational brief. Each Tailgate Talk focuses on one on-the-job safety topic and is designed to be shared with your crew at the beginning of their day. When employees are presented with safety material in small chunks, in a setting in which they are comfortable, they are more likely to retain that information and put it into practice.
|
|
|
|
Cold weather brings many risks and hazards with it. An increased risk of slipping and falling is just one of those risks. Injuries from slips, trips and falls are one of them most common causes of injuries.
|
|
|
|
Pennsylvania Data Show Roundabouts Reduce Crashes
|
|
|
|
A review of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) data found that fatalities, injuries, and crashes decreased overall at 19
roundabouts
built at 16 locations that were previously stop or signal controlled. The agency evaluated roundabouts that had at least 3 years of crash data available before and after construction. The data show that fatalities declined from two to none, suspected serious injuries dropped 90 percent, and total number of crashes decreased 34 percent. In addition to the 19 roundabouts reviewed, PennDOT has built 29 other roundabouts and has 40 more in design. To educate road users, the agency created a
video
on how to use roundabouts whether in a vehicle, on a bicycle, or on foot.
|
|
|
|
Use these links to get more information about the Connecticut Training and Technical Assistance (T2) Center:
|
|
|
|
If you have any ideas or suggestions for future
Connecticut Crossroads
topics, please feel free to email the designer Regina Hackett at
[email protected]
|
|
|
|
|
|
