Interstate roads; Internet data -- we need them both

The flow of goods on our Interstate highways and the flow of information on the Internet share their origins — both were designed initially for military purposes. In fact, the Interstate system is legally the Military and Interstate Highway System, says historian John R. Stilgoe at Harvard University.

Our system of Interstate roads ties together cities, provides a safe method of moving supplies and troops if needed, offers alternate routes in case of attack, has no centralized headquarters or control to attack, can be quickly repaired if damaged, can serve as a runway for landing planes, and offers a wide right-of-way to cache supplies if needed. These design criteria were part of the original military design, even though they serve us equally well for civilian use.

The system was authorized shortly after World War II, but not much was built until President Dwight D. Eisenhower took office. He pushed construction because he feared an atomic attack, historians say.

What about today, as we respond to terrorism? Under federal program requirements, one of the system components still mandated consists of Strategic Highway Corridor Network connectors. These link STRAHNET corridors, which consist of about 15,000 miles of strategic routes linking major military installations and other defense-related facilities. The connectors make up about 670,000 miles of roads or about 42% of the system.

The Internet, designed to link military mainframe computers at the end of the 1960s, followed the same method. It routes information in packets randomly, with no centralized control or headquarters, and with many alternate routes. Like the Interstate system, it can be used to ensure the information flow needed to help avoid terrorist attacks or to deal with them and their aftermath. And it serves us well for civilian uses.

In our industry, let us take special pride as we do our jobs. We’re not only keeping the roads open for drivers taking casual or business trips; we’re also making sure that a basic military need stands ready to move the materials and people who protect our great country from terrorism and other threats.

The flip side of downsizing

While some contractors and agencies continue to downsize, hiring goes on — especially in the road industry, where funding means continued work.

If you play a role in that hiring, are you pleased with those who work for and with you? If so, pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

If you’re not pleased, take responsibility and ask yourself how it happened and what you can do about it.

British author Stuart Wilde says to look upon the workplace as a mirror and surround yourself with those who are a reflection of yourself.

Especially watch for:

1. Those who in taking responsibility, follow through.

2. Workers who do what they find in front of them.

3. Those who guarantee you will get the work you expect and more.

4. Workers who will put in extra hours of their own, if needed.

5. Those who learn to do better on the rare occasions when they fail.

Are there still such people? Of course there are. As you check resumes or interview, you can also look at how well an applicant deals with problems. Do they see them as challenges? Do they avoid making excuses? Does their work show discipline? Is acting honorably important to them?

When you get positive answers to these questions and to Wilde’s checklist, hire the applicant.

Finally, remember that hiring the very best person is the way to go. If he or she can learn and work well enough to replace you, it will help you complete projects in a timely way and it will set you free to move forward with your own career.

October 2001

Protecting road workers: Michigan leads the way

It was a great day when Michigan’s Governor John Engler signed the law that protects highway workers. The law is the first in the nation that creates tougher penalties for motorists who injure or kill highway construction workers.

How tough? Senate Bill 373, introduced by Michigan State Senator Bill Bullard, creates penalties of up to a year in prison for injury and up to 15 years in prison for killing a highway construction or maintenance worker.

One way they pushed this legislation through was calling it Andy’s Law, recognizing Andrew Lefko, a 19-year-old highway worker who was severely injured by a motorist during work on an I-275 reconstruction project two years ago. Lefko can’t speak or walk, yet the driver who hit him served only 45 days in prison, has violated probation three times since the accident, and is still driving.

The law takes effect on October 1st, just as this magazine goes into the mail, and becomes Michigan’s Public Act 105 of 2001. Publicity about the origin of the law and the toughness of its penalties should make drivers move more cautiously through work zones as they barrel down the road.

I believe it’s time for other states to look at Michigan’s new law and to move toward providing tougher penalties of their own for drivers who injure or kill highway workers. The legislation makes a good addition to the arsenal of using signing; barricades and other safety devices; and better safety training for workers.

Michigan often steps out first in implementing new highway construction and maintenance technology. This time, they lead the way with a law than can help protect our most valuable resource — our workers.

September 2001

Push for even more funding

A recent report from the American Transportation Builders Association says that while TEA-21 reauthorization isn’t just around the corner, it’s time to begin the push for improved authorizations.

Even though current funding levels are higher than they have been in past programs, ARTBA estimates that we need to spend $50 billion a year at the federal level just to keep our bridges and roads at today’s not-all-that-wonderful-performance levels.

The association includes ways to fund the work in their proposal, too. Take an extra $10 billion from the dedicated trust funds that have already been paid by motorists and that have never been authorized for use.

Next, increase the federal gasoline tax by $0.08 per gallon.

Another idea, and one that makes sense, is to follow the pattern of several states and turn the tax into a percentage of the gasoline purchase. Then, as inflation increases gasoline costs, taxes increase along with it.

A problem that also needs to be resolved is those states that have cut back on their own highway maintenance and construction spending as they received more federal funds. Some mechanism needs to be put in place to make sure that they meet their share of the infrastructure responsibility.

No matter how we finally pay for it, we not only need $50-billion annual budgets for our highways. We need more so that we can improve our roads and return them to the level of service of a decade ago. Then, you could drive down the road without dodging potholes, cracks, and other major road problems in most states. In fact, the ARTBA plan calls for $65 billion a year if we want to improve our bridges and roads to a more reasonable level.

If you consider your home as one of your major investments (and most of us do), you don’t let it deteriorate and lose value. The same principle applies to our roads. As our infrastructure continues to age, we need to spend the money needed to keep it in shape.

You can help by contacting your Senators and Representatives at both the federal and state levels, by holding local press conferences about the need for more federal funds, and by encouraging those on your staff to do the same.

A gasoline tax increase is a better idea

It would be nice to blame various groups’ push to cut or suspend the federal gasoline tax on the silly season, that time of dog-days August when the general media looks for anything, no matter how foolish, to try to get their reader’s attention.

Unfortunately, these groups are serious about their desire for a cut as a way to alleviate the energy crunch.

Actually, increasing the gasoline tax would do more to help the energy situation, because it would encourage folks to conserve energy rather than use it without a thought. More people would consider smaller vehicles or those that get better gasoline mileage. They might plan to do several errands in one trip rather than making a several-mile drive for even the smallest, single purchase.

A tax increase would help those of us in the road building and maintaining industry truly improve the condition of our bridges and roads, too. Even with the increased funds we have under TEA-21, we’re only holding our own.

A decrease in the federal gasoline tax would, of course, be a disaster. Drivers would have more rapidly deteriorating roads, greater traffic congestion, and all of the other problems they already want us to solve faster and with less annoyance for them on a daily basis. And, a decrease would only encourage wasteful use of energy on our highways and in our economy.

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association has probably done the most to help ensure that the federal gasoline tax stays where it is or is increased (see the news section in this issue). But all of us can help.

Start by holding a press conference with your local media. Explain why the federal gas tax is needed and how it’s used. Add something about what will happen to the condition of the roads if it doesn’t remain or increase. Provide the reporters with a photo of the worst traffic congestion you can find in your area.

In the summer, a flagger’s life heats up

As July and August temperatures climb, flaggers hold one of the toughest and most dangerous jobs in road construction. Not only do they stand for long hours, usually in the hot sun, they also face the ire of motorists who have been told to stop and wait (also in the sun). And the longer the stretch of repair with traffic from one direction moving slowly through and traffic from the other direction waiting impatiently, the greater the ire of many of the drivers. Some of these folks take out their feelings on the first worker they see, who happens to be the flagger.

Contractors and agencies alike need to consider ways to make the flagger’s job safer and more tolerable as he or she takes both heat from the sun and from motorists.

One good way is to keep the work-zone area at a reasonable length when possible. Drivers who wait for traffic to move through a 500-ft. work zone will be lots less angry than those who sit for a string of traffic to come through a 2- or 3-mile one-way stretch of road at a very slow speed.

Provide the flaggers with lightweight reflective gear that makes them very visible. Mesh vests may be ideal. Be sure they wear caps, preferably with reflective striping, that let them see what’s going on, yet help protect their faces from the sun. Long-sleeved shirts may seem hot, but if they are made of a suitable lightweight material, such as a loosely woven cotton, they can help protect from the sun.

Use remote-controlled signals rather than handheld stop and slow signs where this is feasible, such as on long-term sites. In this case, the flagger controls the signal from a position away from the traffic, providing greater personal protection.

If handheld signs are used, be sure that they are in good condition, made of bright, reflective, easily seen materials that have not faded nor become covered with dust or mud.

Be sure that flaggers receive proper training so that they do their job correctly and safely, rather than standing with the sign held at a lackadaisical, 45-degree angle.

If the flagger must stand in direct sun for long periods of time, arrange for regular breaks or changes of duty. For instance, one Oklahoma contractor operating a three-mile-long work zone used a pickup to lead the traffic through the one-way stretch open alongside the work zone. After one-and-a-half cycles, the truck driver changed places with the flagger at one end, giving him a break. The flagger then became the lead truck driver for another cycle and a half, trading places with the flagger at the other end. This continued throughout the work day, giving each flagger a chance to sit in the truck with the shade of the cab for relief.

Be sure that water is available for flaggers (and other workers) at all times, particularly when the temperature climbs near 90 degrees F or above. If you use the trucker/flagger cycle, you can suggest that flaggers keep water in the truck.

June 2001

Innovative financing has two sides

Recently we received a press release about an innovative financing package assembled to develop an interstate interchange 10 to 15 years ahead of the Florida Department of Transportation’s schedule. Creative use of tax increment financing let the city of Orlando and Orange County appropriate incremental tax revenue from the designated district of about 400 acres for a period of 25 years to pay off the debt for the interchange, according to the release, which came from the City of Orlando.

We’ve always supported new ways of financing projects, including toll roads that let the actual users of the facility help pay the bills. In this case, the developers may stand to make most of the gains in return for contributing a small parcel of land.

Take time to revisit ethics

Remind yourself to look at your values in the future. Moving into new job or taking on new responsibilities can create a need to reshape your plan. And changes in your life, such as moving to a new agency or company or reaching a new stage in your career, may focus your values in new directions.

April 2001

Online tool could help agencies or contractors hire smarter
HR is moving to the Internet and here’s one tool that you can try. March 2001

Road construction:
the positive side of the economy
"State DOTs will get a $3.1-billion bonus for FY2001
due to gas tax revenue growth."