- UConn Student Wins ITS-CT 2019 Student Scholarship
- NEW Tailgate Talk: What to Do in Case of a Bee Sting
- Signal Spotlights: 3D Crosswalks MUTCD Update
- Warren's Words of Wisdom: Notice Anything Dangerous in This Picture?
- Congratulations to Joe Bragaw, Public Works Director and Proud Papa!
- Innovation Station: DOT to Expand Wildflower Areas Along Connecticut Highways to Help Bees, Butterflies
- Town Crier: Windsor's Risk Management Safety Award's Challenge Coin
- South Windsor Launches Network to Share Information with Other Municipalities
- What is Public Works? A Video by APWA
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UConn Student Wins ITS-CT 2019 Student Scholarship
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UConn Civil Engineering student Katherine (Kate) Gosselin was awarded the ITS-CT 2019 Student Scholarship. Set to graduate in 2019, Kate is an honors student, a teaching assistant for the Transportation Engineering and Planning introductory course at UCONN, and is a researcher of ride-sourcing adoption patterns for diverse demographic and location contexts. When not studying, she is a Hartford Marathon Foundation volunteer and organizes an annual blood drive event to honor a friend with leukemia.
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Kate has been accepted to UC Berkeley to pursue her master's degree in transportation engineering and plans to obtain a PhD. She will continue to focus her research on the broader societal opportunities and implications of emerging transportation technology and hopes to serve as a mentor to other young women in transportation. Congratulations, Kate!
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NEW Tailgate Talk: What to Do in Case of a Bee Sting
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As summer settles in across Connecticut, you're probably noticing that bees are especially active these days. It's their favorite season! And when they disappear as fall approaches, it will be time to be on alert for wasps and hornets.
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Bees sting—leaving a stinger in your skin. Wasps don't leave a stinger, but their stings tend to cause worse reactions. In general, most stings only cause temporary pain, swelling and skin redness.
In more severe cases however, stings can have life-threatening effects, depending on where the sting occurs and what allergies you may have. Being stung in the throat for example, may cause fluid to build up and cause swelling in the tissues around the throat, making it difficult to breathe.
To continue reading this Tailgate Talk,
click here
.
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Signal Spotlights: 3D Crosswalks MUTCD Update
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I’ve heard about a crosswalk design that simulates 3-dimensional (3-D) objects in the roadway. Is such a concept compliant with the MUTCD?
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This concept does not comply with the MUTCD. As a result of demonstrated safety concerns, the FHWA is no longer considering field experimentation with “3-D” crosswalk designs. The FHWA had previously approved field experimentation with “3-D” markings until one such experiment showed unintended—and potentially dangerous—effects. A significant percentage of drivers swerved upon seeing the markings, perhaps perceiving them to be real raised objects on the roadway. While this type of driver reaction did decrease over time, the experiment showed that
more than one in ten drivers might make an evasive or erratic maneuver
upon experiencing this or similar installations for the first time.
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If you have traffic signal systems questions, please contact:
Theresa Schwartz, P.E., P.T.O.E. - Traffic Signal Circuit Rider
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Warren's Words of Wisdom: Notice Anything Dangerous in This Picture?
by Warren Rogers, C.S.P.
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Is it the small tree on the F-150 or the family who all look the same? I agree both are scary. (Hurricane Sandy)
Actually, the box attached to the pole is the scary part. The box contains a large battery Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system to keep people using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) on the cable system operable during power outages for 911 calls. If you’ve bundled your phone/cable/internet with one company, you are using VoIP. Each state can have different maximum operating voltages. In Connecticut, it tops out at 90 volts, 15 amps DC. Some states allow up to 120 volts. All are DC powered.
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Congratulations to Joe Bragaw, Public Works Director and Proud Papa!
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Billy Bragaw, the son of East Lyme Director of Public Works Joe Bragaw, was one of eight Connecticut residents who graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in New London, on May 22, 2019. In total, 240 cadets graduated after 200 weeks of intensive studying and training.
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Congratulations to both Joe and Billy Bragaw!
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DOT to Expand Wildflower Areas Along Connecticut Highways to Help Bees, Butterflies
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Connecticut’s bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are soon going to have a lot more places along state highways where they can refuel on wildflowers as a result of a newly expanded “Pollinator Corridor” program.
The state Department of Transportation already has eight designated locations where minimal mowing is allowing wildflowers such as flea bane, birdsfoot trefoil and daisies to blossom to help out stressed-out wild pollinators.
A new DOT list released this month includes 51 new spots along state highways, on- and off-ramps and medians that have been designated as “conservation areas” where invasive plants will be removed and native flowers and grasses will be allowed to grow.
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Windsor's Risk Management Safety Award's Challenge Coin
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On January 20, 2019, one of the Town of Windsor's public works employees was severely injured when his arm got caught in a working auger of a sander. As a result of this incident, a number of rescuers were given a Risk Management Safety Award's Challenge Coin for assisting in rescuing a fellow co-worker; this included two public works employees, one paramedic, two police officers and four firefighters.
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The Challenge Coin goes back to Roman times, when officers would give their troops a coin for going above and beyond duty and for valor. It has evolved through the years into a coin for the military (from WWI and WWII up through today's military) then for emergency services, and each United States President has their own unique coin that they give out. Generally the coin is given by a handshake in the presenter's palm to the recipient.
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South Windsor Launches Network to Share Information with Other Municipalities
from NEAPWA Chapter Chatter (
Spring/Summer 2019
)
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Clay Major, Facilities Manager for the Town of South Windsor Public Buildings Division, recently started a series of quarterly roundtable meetings to share information and network with municipal facilities professionals and peers throughout Connecticut. This is believed to be first of its kind in Connecticut. A facilities listserv (
Ctfacilities-L@listserv.uconn.edu
) was created shortly thereafter to provide a way to pose questions and forward materials and information on new regulations, resources and trainings, as well as upcoming events to the facilities management community. To date, guest presenters from OSHA and the ADA Coalition of Connecticut have attended and provided excellent information and resources for the participating municipalities.
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What is Public Works?
A Video by APWA
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APWA is excited to introduce
What Is Public Works?
for children. In this video, children will learn about water and wastewater, solid waste, traffic and transportation, and construction.
The video promotes awareness and understanding for public works in the community and features public works employees who keep our communities a healthy, safe place to live, work and play.
Help teach our next generation of children that public works is everywhere we look!
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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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