“Dubuque has overhauled the Historic Millwork District into a livable, walkable community that is attracting businesses and residents alike,” said LaHood in a press release. “This kind of smart transportation planning creates jobs, accommodates all road users – cars, transit, bicycles and pedestrians – and improves public safety.”

The city estimates that due to the design and location, 60 percent of the new residents within the Historic Millwork District will work downtown. The U.S. Department of Transportation provided a $5.6 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant to help the city provide more transportation options and reconstruct the street networks to better serve a broad range of users, including drivers, public transportation, pedestrians, bicyclists, seniors, children and people with disabilities.

“By investing in this revitalization, the city of Dubuque created jobs, provided accessible and varied transportation options for residents and visitors and strengthened the local economy,” said Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez. “Dubuque residents will now have a more connected community in which to work and live.”

The Historic Millwork District was redeveloped from old factories and mills, dormant since the early part of the 20th century, into a new mixed-use development incorporating housing, workplaces and entertainment. The TIGER program was designed to promote innovative, multi-modal and multi-jurisdictional transportation projects that provide significant economic and environmental benefits to an entire metropolitan area, region or the nation.

In a press release, the associations together note that recognizing the profound positive impact these needed reforms will have on small and large employers, and the positive benefits it will have to shore up Illinois’ ability to continue to maintain and build its infrastructure, the Illinois infrastructure community urges lawmakers to pass true pension and Medicaid stabilization packages this spring session.

“We strongly support tackling the structural financial problems in the State of Illinois,” said Michael Sturino, president and CEO of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, in a press release. “The construction industry is confident that the General Assembly will work together with the Governor to ensure that Illinois keeps moving and that transportation jobs are protected.”

According to Quinn, Medicaid and pensions now account for 39 percent of state general revenue spending. This places tremendous pressures upon the rest of the budget. Ratings agencies have repeatedly cited continued inaction on Medicaid and pension reform as potential reasons to downgrade Illinois’ bond rating, which could effectively halt critical capital improvements and road safety projects. If Illinois is expected to maintain a sound bond rating and the ability to maintain the integrity of its roads, bridges, transit, ports, and airports, a real solution to pensions and Medicaid is needed now, the associations purport.

CCDAFW on May 9 launched a nationwide effort urging construction-related firms and organizations to sign an online pledge signifying they will create and maintain a workplace free from substance abuse. In addition to listing current pledge signatories, the CCDAFW website, http://www.drugfreeconstruction.org/, includes educational materials and state-by-state policies for substance abuse testing.

The CCDAFW is comprised of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), Construction Industry Round Table (CIRT), Construction Users’ Roundtable (CURT) and Women Construction Owners & Executives (WCOE).

The launch of the CCDAFW website and online pledge coincides with North American Occupational Safety and Health Week, May 6-12.

Source: Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)

Their official statements follow:

Chairman Mica Statement

“We all share a commitment to build our nation’s infrastructure and this legislation must do so responsibly.  It must be paid for, it must not raise taxes, it must not include earmarks, and it must not add to federal bureaucracy.

“In order to achieve this goal, we must include serious reforms of federal transportation programs to get projects moving and people back to work.

“Particularly in this current economic environment, there is no appetite to keep funneling money into programs in need of a major overhaul, unless we make necessary, meaningful reforms.

“I am concerned that the long-term solvency of the Highway Trust Fund is at risk, however the solution to the Trust Fund solvency problem is not more deficit spending or General Fund transfers.  The solution is major reform of programs, cutting wasteful spending and reigning in the federal bureaucracy.

“Federal programs are broken when red tape bogs down major highway projects for up to 15 years, increasing project costs and leaving jobs behind. During the stimulus debacle, ‘shovel-ready’ became a national joke because it takes so long to get the bureaucratic approvals for a project.  We must cut the red tape and streamline the project approval process.

“Programs are broken when they dictate to states and localities through set-asides and Trust Fund draining programs how their returned gas tax revenue must be spent.  In order to better focus our limited resources on the most critical projects and improvements, we must give states more flexibility, and we must significantly reduce the federal bureaucracy by consolidating or eliminating duplicative and unnecessary programs.

“All of my House Transportation and Infrastructure Conferees are committed to serious reform as part of any legislation we produce.  Real reform is necessary for House Republicans to support funding a surface transportation bill.”

Chairman Duncan Statement

“Over the course of this conference, we will be dealing with a large number of policy issues that affects all aspects of our Nation’s surface transportation system.

“One area that I’ve strongly supported is streamlining the project delivery process.  Too much government bureaucracy and red tape can tie up infrastructure projects, delaying transportation improvements and increasing construction costs.

“According to the Federal Highway Administration, the project delivery process can take up to 15 years from planning through construction.  This is simply unacceptable.

“Another analysis conducted by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission found that a $500 million project that took 14 years to complete would see its cost double due to the impact of delays and inflation.

“I hope that this Conference Committee will be able to agree on real reforms to streamline the project delivery process.

“I believe that the Conference Report produced by this Committee must set hard deadlines for Federal agencies to approve and expedite highway and transit projects.

“These reforms must delegate more project approval authority to States and allow State environmental laws to be used in place of Federal laws where it makes sense.

“Also, we must simplify the approval process for projects within a facilities right-of-way.

“If we can agree to these common sense changes, I’m confident we can cut the time it takes to approve a project in half, thereby reducing the costs of transportation projects and delivering the economic and safety benefits of those projects to our nation in a more timely fashion.”

The first contract is from the City of Riverside and is to manage construction of the Iowa Avenue grade separation project. The second contract is from the City of Loma Linda and is to manage construction of the Stewart Street improvement project, which includes an underpass, road widening and a new pedestrian bridge.

The award was presented April 26 during a Road Gang lunch in the Nation’s Capital.

Past recipients hail from private sector transportation organizations, and from the public sector including Rep. Bud Shuster (R-Pa.), Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio), and Mary Peters and Rodney Slater, who were recognized during their service as Federal Highway Administrators.

“While it is a great honor to receive this recognition, I accept the award on behalf of all of ARTBA’s volunteer leaders and staff whose work has been critical to the industry’s success in growing the transportation construction market over the last twenty five years,” Ruane said.

Ruane has more than 40 years of diversified experience in the economic development, construction, transportation and national defense fields.  He has played an active leadership role in every federal surface transportation program authorization since 1980.

Since its formation in 1996, Ruane has co-chaired the Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC), a permanent 30 member, market-oriented construction trade association and labor coalition working on industry legislative and regulatory issues.

He’s a trustee of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation and is the vice chairman of the U.S. Chamber-led Americans for Transportation Mobility (ATM), a broad-based coalition focused on major national transportation legislation. He’s also a member of the Chamber’s “Committee of 100” top national association executives.

In total, more than 5,600 equipment items and trucks were sold in this three-day auction — another new Canadian record for the company. The previous Canadian equipment auction record for largest gross auction proceeds was CA$93 million (US$78 million), also set in Edmonton, AB in April 2009. Every item was sold to the highest bidder, regardless of price — without minimum bids or reserve prices. Bids were made in the auction on-site, online in real time at www.rbauction.com or by proxy.

More than 6,900 people from 37 countries, including all 10 Canadian provinces and two territories registered to bid in person or online in the auction. Bidders from outside Alberta purchased more than CA$38 million (US$39 million) or 35 percent of total gross auction proceeds. Close to 2,300 of the bidders taking part in the auction registered to bid online and purchased more than CA$38 million (US$39 million) of equipment available online—this is a new Canadian record for online gross auction proceeds.

The equipment in the auction was sold for close to 800 sellers and included more than 350 surplus items from Willbros Canada — Willbros equipment was made available through its exit from the Canadian cross country pipeline construction business. Willbros Canada continues to provide quality services to the oil-sands industry and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Willbros Group Inc., a global contractor specializing in energy infrastructure serving the oil, gas and power industries.

AUCTION QUICK FACTS: EDMONTON, AB – APRIL 24 – 26, 2012

• Gross Auction Proceeds – CA$108+ million (US$110+ million)
• Amount sold to online bidders – CA$38+ million (US$39+ million) (35 percent)
• Unique bidders (total) – 6,900+
• Unique online bidders – Close to 2,300 (33 percent)
• Lots sold – 5,600+
• Number of sellers – Close to 800

The Paris-based firm agreed to invest about $10 million in the move to an as-yet-undetermined site near Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and to create at least 90 jobs during the first two years, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s office said in the Post report.

The 2012 NWZAW (April 23-27) kicked-off with an April 23 national news conference at a Route 141 construction zone in St. Louis. The event, hosted by the Missouri Department of Transportation, aimed to publicly highlight the safety risks for motorists and workers associated with driving through these sites. (For photos from the kick off, click here.)

Brad Sant, ARTBA’s senior vice president of safety and education, says the transportation design and construction industry is continually employing new approaches to address safety risks in driving through these sites.

“Just last week, ARTBA renewed its innovative alliance with the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) and industry partners,” says Sant. “The alliance is unique in that it includes multiple federal agencies, organized labor, representation from state agencies and employer associations—all working together to ensure our workplaces are safer for all involved.”

Sant also identified a new course, “Preventing Runovers and Backovers,” developed in partnership with OSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), as a first-of-its-kind program to address the problem of “struck-by” incidents in roadway construction. “For over a decade the industry has identified runovers and backovers as the primary safety concern for our workers. Now, with backing from OSHA and NIOSH, ARTBA is providing the industry with the first, comprehensive course to address the problem, and we are giving away this training and material for free,” he said.

This fall, the ARTBA Foundation-managed National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse will utilize cutting-edge technologies to deliver “Best Practices in Roadway Work Zone Safety” at the Local Transportation Asset Management Virtual Conference & Innovation Showcase. It marks the first time such a virtual event has been delivered to the desktops of tens of thousands of city and county government officials across America. The conference’s educational sessions — free of charge — provide strategies, tips and tactics aimed at helping improve safety.

Sant says innovation was also the thrust behind the recent production of a new video, “Flagger Fundamentals,” which revitalizes flagging training with information from the most recent federal and industry standards. By focusing on six steps to safe flagging operations, the interactive video (available in English and Spanish) is a learning tool for flaggers who may need to sharpen their skills and recall basic flagging operations.

Among some of the other ARTBA safety innovations during the past 30 years:

1985: Hosting the nation’s first “National Conference on Work Zone Safety,” in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration.  The groundbreaking event brought together national leaders to tackle unique safety and health challenges faced in roadway construction and led to the development of a series of national and international events that continue to this day.

1998: Launching the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse.  ARTBA and its operating partner, the Texas Transportation Institute, harnessed the power of the Internet early on to provide a centralized information source on “all things” safety and make it available “24/7.”  The facility (www.workzonesafety.org) is now the world’s largest online safety resource; handling more than 200,000 requests annually.

1999: Creating the first-of-its-kind “Highway Worker Memorial Scholarship” to provide post high-school education to the children of highway workers killed or permanently disabled on the job.  The program helped put a public face on the very personal impacts of roadway work zone fatalities and injuries. More than 100 scholarships have been given since its inception.

2002: Forming with the National Safety Council a strategic alliance to create an OSHA 10-Hour course that is focused on the transportation construction industry. In an era when generic OSHA 10-Hour classes are offered to all audiences, ARTBA recognized the need for customized training to meet the unique needs of industry workers.

Hall joins the Full Committee staff after serving as counsel for the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit since May 2008. She first joined the Committee staff in 2006 as counsel for the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management.

Prior to working at the Committee, she served at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and was counsel for the Committee on Government Reform. Hall is a graduate of the University of Arizona and received her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Hall came to the Committee in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to work on legislation reforming federal disaster response. Most recently she has been the Committee’s point person on motor carrier safety, transportation planning, and environmental streamlining issues.

Shant Boyajian, formerly an investigator on the oversight and investigations staff of the Committee, joins the Highways and Transit Subcommittee as counsel. Shant served as a law clerk at the Department of Energy prior to joining the Committee’s oversight staff in March 2011 and received his J.D. with honors from the Catholic University of America.