- Warren's Words of Wisdom: Weapons of Mass Bleeding (WMB) - Stop the Bleed Training
- Signal Spotlight: Traffic Signal Removals in New Britain
- Safety Matters: New CTDOT Pedestrian Safety Tool for Practitioners
- Innovation Station: A Teenager Won a $25,000 Award for Inventing a Solution to Eliminate Blind Spots for Cars
- ITE Learning Hub
- 2020 National Public Works Week!
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Weapons of Mass Bleeding (WMB) - Stop the Bleed Training
by Warren Rogers, C.S.P.
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Public works folks are exposed to Weapons of Mass Bleeding (WMB) every day! These include any tool or equipment that could cause or create massive bleeding or loss of limb. Chain saws, heavy equipment, lifts, etc.—the list goes on and on for the work environment. Even at home or on the road you could witness or become a victim of some catastrophic event (active shooter or car crash) involving massive bleeding or loss of limb. As a response to the way the world has changed, the American College of Surgeons created a program for civilians to be trained on how to help manage a massive bleed/loss of limb situation and developed equipment typically reserved for military field applications to utilize.
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The training is less than 2-hours long, and hopefully your organization will either be provided Stop the Bleed kits or at least a tourniquet to be added to your first aid kit. Fingers crossed none of us will ever have to use this training, but I’d feel better working with others who I know could handle a bad situation.
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Signal Spotlight: Traffic Signal Removals in New Britain
Over the past decade, the City of New Britain has removed unwarranted traffic signals at a number of locations, providing cost savings in the form of traffic signal replacements, electricity and ongoing controller and equipment maintenance.
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Removing these unwarranted traffic signals required an engineering study to confirm that the traffic volumes fell below the levels indicated in the MUTCD warrants and that appropriate intersection sight distances were provided. The Engineering, Public Works, Police and Board of Education staff collaborated to ensure negative impacts would be avoided. We’ve provided a summary of a few of these locations, with before and after photos.
Ellis Street at Bassett Street
Date of Removal: 2015
Replacement: All-way stop control
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f you have traffic signal systems questions, please contact:
Theresa Schwartz, P.E., P.T.O.E. - Traffic Signal Circuit Rider
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New CTDOT Pedestrian Safety Tool for Practitioners
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Reducing pedestrian fatalities is a much-discussed topic in most communities. Pedestrians are vulnerable roadway users, and statistics show that the number of pedestrian fatalities in CT is unfortunately on the rise. According to Watch for Me CT, there were 59 pedestrian fatalities in Connecticut in 2019. Additionally, there were hundreds more crashes resulting in pedestrian injuries.
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As we all look for solutions, the CT Department of Transportation has developed a new tool to aid in the selection of the most appropriate pedestrian safety countermeasure at marked uncontrolled crosswalk locations in Connecticut.
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If you have any questions about local road safety concerns, you can contact:
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A Teenager Won a $25,000 Award for Inventing a Solution to Eliminate Blind Spots for Cars
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A 14-year old from West Grove, Pennsylvania, won a $25,000 prize for creating a prototype designed to eliminate a car's blind spots.
Alaina Gassler told CNN she first noticed the problem when she realized her mom didn't like driving their family's Jeep Grand Cherokee because its A-pillars caused blind spots.
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The A-pillar design in a car supports the windshield and provides protection in case of a crash. However, their size and angle also create blind spots, the area of the road not visible to drivers from their usual sitting position or rear-view and side mirrors.
"There are so many car accidents and injuries and deaths that could've been prevented from a pillar not being there,"
Gassler said
in her Society for Science video. "And since we can't take it off cars, I decided to get rid of it without getting rid of it."
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We are excited to share with you a new learning opportunity through ITE. Through an agreement with FHWA, ITE will provide free web-based training to locals through the ITE Learning Hub. A list of the available subjects is below, including one on traffic control at intersections. Please note, there are eligibility requirements for this free training.
To be eligible, transportation professionals must be employed by a public agency:
- in a county with fewer than 100,000 inhabitants;
- in a city, town, or township with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants; or
- that is part of a tribal government.
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The goal of this training is to provide local and tribal transportation practitioners with the knowledge to meet the challenges faced by greater mobility and expanded population. Across the United States, there are more than 39,000 local governments and 573 federally recognized tribes that own and operate more than 80 percent, or roughly 3.3 million miles, of our nation’s highway network.
These training modules will offer access to information about foundational and emerging technologies and practices to help these professionals move beyond the status quo and identify new ways of looking at problems and the use of both proven and innovative solutions. There will be no charge to access these training modules.
Current List of Topics:
- Traffic Control at Intersections
- Design and Operation of Road Segments and Interchanges in Rural Areas
- Designing for Bicyclist Safety
- Finding the Right Tool for the Job - A Safety Data and Analysis Toolbox
- Introduction to Traffic Engineering Studies
- Managing Speed: Self-Enforcing Roadway Concepts
- Advisory Bike Lanes
- Engineering the Uncontrolled Pedestrian Crossing
- Understanding Finance for the Engineering/Planning Profession
- Recommended Design Guidelines to Accommodate Pedestrians and Bicycles at Interchanges
- Safety Fundamentals: A 9-Part ITE Learning Hub Series
- So Unsafe, It Seems Safe: Reassessing Safety Via Perceived Risk
- Traffic Calming, What Has Changed in the Last 20 Years?
- Protected Bikeway Design: An ITE Practitioners Guide & Lecture Series
To learn more and to confirm eligibility, please contact Kellyanne Broom, ITE Professional Development Manager, at
[email protected]
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2020 National Public Works Week!
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Get into the rhythm with this year's National Public Works Week Poster!
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APWA is proud to announce "The Rhythm of Public Works" as the theme for the 2020 National Public Works Week poster. This year's exciting poster challenges our members and their citizens to think about their communities as a symphony of essential services, working in concert to create a great place to live. Every community has a rhythm, a heartbeat that reflects its essence and tempo of life.
For more information from APWA about National Public Works Week,
click here
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Along with our Facebook page, the T2 Center now has an Instagram page! Click on the icons below to like the T2 Center on Facebook and follow the T2 Center on Instagram!
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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
[email protected]
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