Video: Caltrans Using Special Saws for Safer Tree Removal
The California Department of Transportation and its contractors are deploying a new tool to safely speed up the removal of dead, dying, and diseased trees throughout the state: Telescoping grappling saws.
[Photo courtesy of the California Department of Transportation.]
The agency said in a statement that such saws allow its crews and contractors to take trees down at a faster pace than traditional tree removal processes; completing that process with greater safety from the ground via remote control, well outside the fall zone for trees being removed.
Kansas DOT Seeks Feedback on Active Transportation Plan
The Kansas Department of Transportation is seeking public feedback in the state’s first Active Transportation Plan or ATP in 25 years. Funding for active transportation – which refers to “human-powered” modes of transportation such as walking or cycling – is included within the state’s 10-year Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, or IKE, signed into law in early April.
[Photo courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation.]
The Kansas DOT said it is seeking public input through January 31, 2021, on its ATP via an online survey. Meanwhile, it said the planning process for the ATP will continue through 2021 and will involve national and local experts in planning, design, and safety. The final plan will also serve as a “key tool” for agency staff and local officials on how to include active transportation infrastructure when planning roads, bridges, and various improvement projects.
“We know that over the last several months, many people have discovered walking, cycling, rolling and other forms of active transportation are fun and healthy ways to get around,” noted Julie Lorenz, Kansas DOT secretary, in a statement.
“For others, active transportation has long provided an essential need, an affordable way to get to work, school, transit, the store and other destinations,” she added. “We are committed to providing transportation options that help people travel safely and conveniently – and to do that well, we need to hear from Kansans.”
“Providing access to safe, direct, continuous and pleasant routes whether driving, walking or cycling is essential for a healthy multi-modal transportation system,” added Matt Messina, Kansas DOT’s comprehensive planning unit manager. “Our intent is for Kansas residents to have a direct voice in development of the ATP.”
Environmental News Highlights – December 16, 2020
A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals
Minnesota DOT Unveils Statewide Pedestrian System Plan
The Minnesota Department of Transportation unveiled its first Statewide Pedestrian System Plan, which provides policy and investment guidance to improve places where people walk across and along Minnesota highways.
[Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.]
The agency said the plan “identifies priority areas for investments” and lays out specific strategies to improve walking availability and accessibility now and for the next 20 years to help Minnesota’s communities plan for the future. It will be accepting public feedback on this plan through January 11, 2021.
“Our state’s quality of life depends on creating safe places for people to walk—to work, to the doctor, to the grocery store, anywhere. We know safety is a priority every time you walk,” explained Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Minnesota DOT’s commissioner, in a statement. “MnDOT’s first Statewide Pedestrian System Plan serves as a framework for how we plan to meet pedestrian needs and interests in our state, and we welcome public feedback on the plan.”
The agency said it began work on its Statewide Pedestrian System Plan in February 2019, building it in part on two public engagement efforts that reached 2,700 people statewide. The Minnesota DOT said it also installed seven pedestrian safety demonstrations projects across Minnesota to highlight specific pedestrian safety measures in action, with “all of that feedback” going through an internal process of evaluation to help the agency achieve “better outcomes” for people when walking.
Photo courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Transportation
“This effort will help MnDOT identify opportunities and implement the right strategies on projects to make walking safer and more convenient for Minnesotans,” added Jake Rueter, pedestrian and bicycle planner for the agency. “The plan doesn’t tell us exactly what to do in every situation, but it provides the tools we need to make those decisions and create better places for people to walk statewide.”
Meanwhile, on the national level, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued what it is calling a “first-of-its-kind” Pedestrian Safety Action Plan on November 23 – a plan that will be overseen by the Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“This unprecedented comprehensive safety effort is focused solely on protecting pedestrians because crossing a street should not be lethal for thousands of adults and children every year,” noted U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in a statement – adding that USDOT’s plan will promote the expanded use of countermeasures, technology, and data-driven practices to address pedestrian fatalities and injuries.
According to NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, pedestrians comprised 17 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2019. In 2019 – the most recent year in which data is available – 6,205 pedestrians died in traffic crashes, which is 44 percent more compared to 2010.
The group said case studies in the report cover a diverse group of states, such as Kentucky, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Utah, and Washington State. By looking at current practices, TRB said in a blog post that state DOTs “can move forward in tailoring the data collection process to build infrastructure that will lead to more consistent and efficient planning and management of pedestrian infrastructure.”
TRB Provides Support Resources for Butterfly Conservation Efforts
The Transportation Research Board recently highlighted a bevy of resources available to state departments of transportation to support monarch butterfly habit and migration support efforts.
[Photo courtesy of the Virginia Department of Transportation.]
The report also includes several tools and decision-support mechanisms to optimize habitat potential in a manner that is compatible with the continued operation and maintenance of the roadside.
TRB noted in a blog post that a 2014 Presidential Memorandum “influenced” its recent research on monarch butterfly conservation – a memorandum that encouraged the Federal Highway Administration to work with state DOTs, transportation associations, and roadside managers as part of a holistic approach to promote the health of pollinators.
TRB added that forthcoming research from NCHRP will help craft a “guidebook” to help decision-makers tailor programs to maximize insect pollinator habitats along roadways. That guidebook will consider additional public benefits, roadway characteristics, and safety, as well as the geographical, adjacent land use, and ecological contexts. Butterflies and other pollinators are only a small subset of the wildlife benefiting from informed transportation planning.
In April, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Illinois-Chicago signed what they called a “historic agreement” to encourage transportation and energy firms to voluntarily participate in monarch butterfly conservation by providing and maintaining habitat on potentially millions of acres of rights-of-way corridors on both public and private lands.
Both signed an integrated, nationwide candidate conservation agreement (CCA) and candidate conservation agreement (CCAA) for the monarch butterfly on energy and transportation lands throughout the lower 48 states.
The USFW noted that those formal yet voluntary agreements between the agency and both public and private landowners aim to conserve habitats that benefit at-risk species. It also “integrated” both CCA and CCAA programs so energy and transportation partners and private landowners can provide conservation seamlessly throughout their properties where there may be a mix of non-federal and federal lands.
Virginia DOT Launches Second Major Anti-Litter Initiative
The Virginia Department of Transportation recently began its second major anti-littering effort on December 7 – the Beautify Virginia program – that is part of its support for keeping Virginia’s roadways litter-free.
[Photo courtesy of Virginia Department of Transportation.]
Through the new Beautify Virginia program – which is part of the agency’s broader Environmental Stewardship Initiative – the Virginia DOT said it seeks to engage community and civic organizations, businesses, non-profit companies, and residents that can sponsor litter pickups along segments of eligible highways and interstates, with an approved contractor performing the work on their behalf. To support this effort, the agency will place signage with the respective sponsor’s name and official logo along the sponsored roadways.
“Across Virginia’s transportation sector, we are integrating environmental stewardship and creating sustainable policies that support mobility, access, and our quality of life,” explained Shannon Valentine, Virginia’s secretary of transportation, in a statement. “Investing in safe, healthy communities is our commitment to all who call Virginia home.”
“The value of the partnerships created by the Beautify Virginia program is twofold,” added Rob Cary, Virginia DOT’s chief deputy commissioner. “There is value in forging new and sustaining existing relationships within our communities and also in leveraging the strength of those relationships to serve as good stewards of our environment.”
The Beautify Virginia program follows the Virginia is for Lovers, Not Litter public outreach campaign launched by the agency in September to raise awareness about Virginia’s roadway litter problem. The Virginia DOT noted that it spends nearly $3.5 million annually to remove litter from Virginia’s roadways, with more than half of that litter coming from motorists with another 25 percent from pedestrians.
VTrans Awards Mobility and Transportation Innovation Grants
The Vermont Agency of Transportation recently awarded $500,000 in grants via the Mobility and Transportation Innovation or MTI program, which seeks to support “innovative strategies” that improve both mobility and access for transit-dependent Vermonters, reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles for work trips, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions of GHGs.
[Photo courtesy of the Vermont Agency of Transportation.]
“Innovation like this is essential to meeting the transportation needs of Vermont’s rural population and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” explained Russ MacDonald, public transit manager for VTrans, in a statement. “This is another exciting step forward for the diversification of our state’s transportation system.”
Created by Vermont’s legislature with the passage of the state’s 2020 Transportation Bill in June, VTrans said it awarded 13 grants via its MTU program to fund a variety of projects, including:
Extension of existing transportation demand management or TDM programs, such as bike share, and purchase of electric bicycles
Creation of new TDM programs such as micro-transit services and car sharing
Creation of TDM materials and outreach efforts to promote alternative and efficient commuting options and tools, including teleworking resources such as a telework program guide, telework program planning baseline assessment, and telework best practices resources.
In a related effort, VTrans issued a grant solicitation for new infrastructure projects to improve statewide access and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians in July.
The agency noted that in 2019, it awarded a total of $3.6 million for construction and planning projects throughout Vermont via its Bicycle and Pedestrian grant program.
Environmental News Highlights – December 9, 2020
A roundup of headlines curated for state transportation environmental professionals
New Report Outlines Transportation Impact of Nevada Climate Strategy
The new State Climate Strategy released by the Nevada Climate Initiative on December 1 outlines how the state plans to meet “aggressive” greenhouse gas or GHG emission reduction targets over the next three decades in three stages – 28 percent cut by 2025, 45 percent by 2030, and net-zero/near-zero by 2050.
[Photo courtesy of the Nevada Department of Transportation.]
That strategic report results from a sweeping Executive Order on Climate Change issued by Governor Steve Sisolak (D) in November 2019 that called for the evaluation, identification, and recommendation of the “most effective” climate policies and regulatory initiatives for Nevada.
“It’s a new era for climate action in Nevada,” the governor noted in a statement. “Nevada’s StateClimate Strategy serves as the critical framework necessary to elevate climate action and foster a healthy, vibrant, climate-resilient future. As we continue our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic climate action must play a key role in rebuilding a stronger, more climate-friendly, and equitable economy for Nevada.”
Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak. Photo courtesy of the Nevada Governor’s Office.
The report noted that Nevada’s GHG emissions inventory mirrors trends occurring across the western United States, where transportation-sector emissions (35 percent) now exceed those from the energy sector (32 percent) – historically the largest source of GHG emissions. Industrial, residential, and commercial emissions are growing rapidly, while those associated with other sectors remain relatively consistent, it said.
Under current policies and based on the best available science, Nevada is currently on a path to reduce economy-wide GHG emissions 24 percent by 2025 and 26 percent by 2030 – 4 percent and 19 percent short of the respective emissions-reduction goals for those years.
The report noted that by meeting Nevada’s emission reduction targets, Nevada would prevent between $172 million and $786 million in economic damages by 2030 and up to $4 billion by 2050.
Consequently, the report said the state needs “new mitigation-focused policies, programs, investments, and regulations” to put Nevada on the path toward realizing net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 – with much of it geared towards the transportation sector.
The report recommends five transportation strategies for reducing GHG emissions going forward:
“As the transportation sector recently surpassed energy generation as the largest contributor of emissions in our state, we have been working hard to encourage alternative modes of transportation and carpooling to decrease the number of vehicles on our roads,” explained Kristina Swallow, director, Nevada Department of Transportation.
“Through the Nevada Electric Highway, HOV [High Occupancy Vehicle] lanes, Clean Cities, and other initiatives, we will continue to work collaboratively with our local, state, and federal partners on creative, data-driven strategies to reduce emissions across our vast transportation network,” she added.
Arizona DOT Seeks to Renew NEPA Assignment
The Federal Highway Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation are proposing to renew Arizona’s participation in the “categorical exclusion” program for environmental impact planning purposes where federal highway projects are concerned.
[Photo courtesy of the Arizona Department of Transportation.]
That program allows states to assume decision-making and legal responsibilities for meeting the National Environmental Policy Act or NEPA requirements for federal highway projects.
The Arizona DOT is seeking to renew an agreement finalized with the FHWA in early 2018 that gives it responsibility for categorical exclusions involving projects that do not pose significant environmental impacts. The agency is welcoming public comments on its renewal document through January 3, 2021
In 2019, the Arizona DOT finalized separate agreement with the FHWA that gave it expanded NEPA authorization for five years – making it the seventh state to achieve full NEPA assignment approval.
The Arizona DOT noted that attaining full NEPA assignment responsibilities will help it complete required environmental studies more efficiently while maintaining the same degree of rigor required for projects receiving federal funding, including local projects administered by the agency.
Congress originally authorized NEPA assignments – formally called the “Surface Transportation Project Delivery Program” – as pilot projects under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users or SAFETEA-LU passed in 2005. It then allowed such assignments to be more broadly used on a permanent basis with the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act or MAP-21 signed into law in 2012. NEPA assignments recognize that states are able to comply with federal environmental requirements on their own, allowing them to streamline processes – saving time and money – while waiving their sovereign immunity in relation to federal court jurisdiction.
