- T2 Center Training Team Looking Ahead in 2020!
- 2020 Roadway Safety Poster Contest for Children is Underway!
- Announcing the 2020 Creative Solutions Award Program
- Warren's Words of Wisdom: Watching the News
- Safety Matters: NEW Tech Brief — Benefits of Using Radar Recorders for Traffic Counts
- Town Crier: Clay Major — Town of South Windsor
- Innovation Station: Traffic Signal Mast Arm Vibration Dampers
- Happy New Year from the T2 Center Team
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T2 Center Training Team Looking Ahead in 2020!
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Thank you all for your interest in professional development and your support of the Training & Technical Assistance (T2) Center. The T2 Training Team has been hard at work planning another year full of opportunities for you and your crews to learn about new technologies and practices, share ideas and innovations and improve your operations. We hope you find the variety of offerings interesting and beneficial to your agency.
The new schedule can be found
here
. As you look over the schedule, please let us know if you are interested in hosting a session. We appreciate being able to offer t
rainings around the state and in partnership with local agencies. As a host, you will benefit from having the training in town so your staff doesn't have to travel for the class they need. You will also receive two (2) scholarship seats valued at $100.00 each from the T2 Center for your staff to attend a class of their choosing, valid for one year from issuance.
Later in January, we will be sending out the
Host Site Requirements
with more details on the type of space we need to ensure a successful workshop session for all. If you know of a facility in your town that meets our needs and you would like to be a host for us, we'd love to hear from you! Please contact Shelly Desjardin at
shelly.desjardin@uconn.edu.
We would also like to offer an added
Thank you
to those of you who have been regular hosts each season. Your continued support is greatly appreciated!
We are very excited about this year's training programs.
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2020 Roadway Safety Poster Contest for Children Is Underway!
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The CT Training & Technical Assistance (T2) Center, with the support from agencies and organizations around the state, is bringing awareness of roadway safety to Connecticut. We are happy to announce the
Tenth Annual Roadway Safety Poster Contest for Children!
We want to make roadway safety a priority and are asking the children of Connecticut to help us promote roadway safety through art. Students grades K-5 are invited to submit their original artwork for the chance to win big prizes and be recognized at the Work Zone Safety Awareness Press Conference, held in April.
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The PBS KIDS' "Ruff Ruffman
— Driving" digital initiative provides resources to encourage kids to become better passengers and to play an active role in helping parents to keep their eyes on the road. The campaign's unusual approach tunes into the idea that kids are acutely aware of their parents' distraction especially when they are driving. To visit the
Ruff Ruffman — Driving website,
click here
.
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Announcing the 2020 Creative Solutions Award Program
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We are kicking off 2020 with a new and improved Creative Solutions Award Program! We are setting our sights on helping you all share the great work you are doing day in and day out to improve safety, increase efficiencies and enhance the operations in your agencies!
We want to hear about your innovative solutions to everyday problems! If you have created or developed something that is helping your crews, it is bound to be helpful to others as well. Share that best practice and knowledge with your counterparts across the state and even across the country!
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We want to hear about:
- Tools you developed
- Gadgets you created
- Equipment modifications you have made
- New or streamlined ways of doing everyday tasks
The Creative Solutions Award is a way for us to help share your great idea with the public works community. Winners receive recognition and a prize at our annual Graduation and Awards Ceremony
and
their creative solutions
will be
entered into the National Build a Better Mousetrap Competition sponsored by FHWA where they can win even more prizes for their agency.
We will also highlight the winning innovation in our Crossroads newsletter and across our social media outlets
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Not sure your innovation would make the cut? Check out our
online guide
to
see examples of past winners—and maybe get inspired to try something new!
Deadline is
April
1st—submit your entry today!
Click here
to get the entry packet.
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Watching the News
by Warren Rogers, C.S.P.
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Last night while watching the local news, there was a story about a water main break and the reporter was at the scene of the break reporting live. The water had been shut off, so all the reporter showed was the crew beginning to dig up the street to get to the leak. Exciting video, wow! What struck me immediately was that none of the crew were wearing any type of PPE—no hard hats, no reflective clothing, no gloves. The guy operating the jack hammer did not have safety glasses or hearing protection, hard hat, or gloves.
I began pointing out to my wife of all the safety issues I saw wrong just on the 30 seconds of video, and after listening patiently, as wives do, she said “I wonder, why don’t they have any of that stuff on?” Great question!
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NEW Tech Brief
—
Benefits of Using Radar Recorders for Traffic Counts
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Conducting traffic counts to obtain volume, speed and/or vehicle classification data is an important part of many traffic investigations and other projects done by public works professionals. Traditionally, in order to get this data, pneumatic tube counters (Automatic Traffic Recorders or ATRs) have been used. However, there are other options, such as radar recorders, which provide additional benefits.
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If you have any questions about local road safety concerns, you can contact:
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Clay Major
— Town of South Windsor
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This month we are honoring Clayton Major, Facilities Manager, Town of South Windsor, in our Town Crier Spotlight. Clay has worked tirelessly over the past two years to build a learning community among the facility management professionals in Connecticut.
Learning communities are one of the most
powerful driving forces
for change and improvement within an industry, and their successful implementation can result in a
stronger
workforce
.
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Clay began his effort by offering to host a Facilities Roundtable and invited the towns in Connecticut via the Public Works Listserv. It was so successful, Clay built a series of these roundtables to address timely facilities topics. All of us at the T2 Center have been so impressed by his efforts and by the quality of the speakers he has engaged to provide valuable information to this important group of professionals.
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Clay also worked with the T2 Center staff to build a special Facilities Listserv to provide a forum for public works peers to pose questions and to share resources. The listserv also became a mechanism for facilities job opportunities to be shared with the community.
Congratulations Clay, great work!
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Traffic Signal Mast Arm Vibration Dampers
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Wind and gusts from passing trucks create vibration in traffic signal mast arms, putting stress on the structures. Over time, repeated stresses can cause a structure to fatigue and eventually fail. Aside from obvious safety and liability concerns, vibrations can also impact the quality of video imagery used for surveillance and vehicle detection. Here’s a
video
of this happening.
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Vibrations may be reduced by increasing the size of the structure and, consequently, the structure foundation but this comes at a price. The cost of larger structures is higher and space at the corners of intersections is a precious resource, particularly in urban environments. Large mast arm foundations consume real estate that could be used to provide handicapped-accessible sidewalk width, sidewalk ramps or other streetscape amenities.
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Use these links to get more information about the Connecticut Training and Technical Assistance (T2) Center:
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If you have any ideas or suggestions for future
Connecticut Crossroads
topics, please feel free to email the designer Regina Hackett at
regina.hackett@uconn.edu
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