In this issue
- "Texas Is Not Your Ashtray"
Campaign
- Updated TxDOT Tracker Online
- Retirement Dinner for Saenz,
Simmons and Whitworth
- I-69 Website Launched
- Keener, Berry to Retire
- Transportation Commission Meeting Set for Thursday
- Statewide Podcasts
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- Prepare for the future
- Enhance safety
- Maintain the transportation
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- Relieve congestion
- Enhance connectivity
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identify funding strategies |
Monday, June 27, 2011
Editor's Note: Here's our roundup of Texas Department
of Transportation news and events. If you have any questions,
comments or just want to know more about something you read here,
send a message to AskTxDOT@txdot.gov.
"Texas is Not Your Ashtray" Campaign
A smoldering cigarette butt tossed out a car window onto dry grass
can spark a blaze that quickly spreads for miles, scorching farm and
ranch lands, destroying homes, threatening lives and exhausting
limited state resources to battle. With Texas suffering the worst
drought in nearly half a century and cigarette butts accounting for
43 percent of the state's roadside trash, the "Don't Mess with
Texas" (DMWT) program is increasing its public awareness campaign
that cigarette butts not only create litter but also contribute to
wildfires. DMWT is promoting its "Texas is Not Your Ashtray" message
with statewide advertising that includes social media messaging and
billboards.
For more
information »
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Updated TxDOT Tracker Online
A revised TxDOT Tracker, the agency's online public performance
reporting and management tool, has gone live. The current version
presents the semi-annual FY 2011 update of TxDOT performance
reports. It also has several new measures to help document the
efficiencies of the agency's business processes and programs. A
recent report by the Pew Center on the States and the Rockefeller
Foundation ranked Texas as one of 13 states leading the way in
providing the essential tools – goals, performance measures and data
– needed to help decision makers choose more cost-effective
transportation funding and policy options.
View the TxDOT Tracker »
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Retirement Dinner for Saenz, Simmons and
Whitworth
Make plans now to attend TxDOT's goodbye dinner honoring Executive
Director Amadeo Saenz, Deputy Executive Director Steve Simmons and
Audit Office Director Owen Whitworth – all who will retire Aug. 31.
The barbeque dinner for the longtime administrators will be held
5:30-9:30 p.m., Aug. 17 at the Texas Exposition Center, 7311 Decker
Lane in Austin. Tickets are $25 a person.
For more information »
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I-69 Website Launched
Area planning groups recently launched a new
website to generate citizen feedback for the proposed I-69 corridor
that would run from the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley to
northeast Texas. As planning for the corridor progresses, the site
is the first step in a public relations effort initiated by the I-69
Advisory Committee and the five I-69 Segment Committees. The website
has links to planning committees, transportation funding information
and ways to submit comments. Brochures about the proposed project
can be downloaded.
Visit the I-69 website »
Back to top
Keener, Berry to Retire
Terry Keener |
Chuck Berry |
Two TxDOT veterans, Childress District Engineer Terry Keener, P.E.,
and El Paso District Engineer Chuck Berry, P.E., have announced
their retirements, effective Aug. 31, 2011. Both Keener and Berry
have worked in their respective districts during their entire TxDOT
careers – Keener for nearly 40 years and Berry for 32 years. Keener
has been responsible for managing all engineering operations in the
in the Childress District since 2004. After earning his bachelor's
degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in 1971, he
joined TxDOT as an engineering assistant in the district's design
office and went on to work in several other offices, including
construction and lab, right of way and maintenance.
Berry
became the El Paso District engineer in 2002. Over the years, he has
served in various engineering roles in the district's roadway and
bridge design sections and construction office. Berry holds a
bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Rice University and a
master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at
Austin.
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Transportation Commission Meeting Set for Thursday
The Texas Transportation Commission will convene for its next
regular monthly meeting at 9 a.m., Thursday, June 30. The meeting
will be held at the Texas State Capitol Extension Auditorium,
E1.004, while the Greer Building – TxDOT's Austin headquarters and
where the Commission usually meets – undergoes renovation. The
Commission will not hold a workshop session in June.
The
Commission will receive staff updates on the agency's modernization
efforts and transportation-related bills adopted by the 82nd Texas
Legislature. The Commission also will consider awarding
approximately $63 million in federal and state grant funds for
public transportation projects across the state, including new
transit vehicles, new and expanded facilities, expanded service and
planning.
Read the agenda »
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Statewide Podcasts
TxDOT produces a weekly Statewide Podcast to keep you updated on the
latest transportation news and issues, and new podcast episodes are
published every Friday on the TxDOT website, http://www.txdot.gov/
.
In this week’s episode, we talk with National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration administrator David Strickland about a
series of public service announcements on the problem of distracted
driving featuring characters from the new Disney-Pixar movie “Cars
2.” Episodes are also available on iTunes.
Listen to podcast » |