VOLUME 14 - 6 MARCH 2011 Conveyances March.pdfEngineering in 40 Hours, by Michael Kyte, Andrea Bill, and Rhonda Young. [October 2010]. • Reducing Congestion at Grand Canyon’s South

MARCH 2011 VOLUME 14 - 6

INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERS

The Official Newsletter of the ITE Colorado/Wyoming Section

Conveyances

Members of the Outstanding ITE Section ...

To start this message I would like to first take the opportunity to draw attention to the Section members that have been pub-lished in the ITE Journal over the last year and a bit. As “sharing more knowledge” is one of the Section’s main strate-gic goals, I am pleased to see that several of our members have received this international

recognition – an achievement to which we can aspire. Congratulations and thank you to the Section members listed below with their articles:

• Practices in Access Management, by Philip

Demosthenes. [January 2010] • Traffic Signal Health Index Program: A System to

Better Identify and Manage Traffic Signal Inefficien-cies and Failures, by Jerry Maschka. [September 2010].

• Everything You Need to Know About Transportation Engineering in 40 Hours, by Michael Kyte, Andrea Bill, and Rhonda Young. [October 2010].

• Reducing Congestion at Grand Canyon’s South Rim,

by Bill Byrne and Jonathan Upchurch. [January 2011]

If I have inadvertently missed a member who was pub-lished in the ITE Journal between January 2010 and now, please let me know so you can be recognized.

I have two announcements. First, the Institute will be launching the ITE Community, a social media landscape that was created specifically for ITE members (the privi-lege is not afforded to Local Affiliates). They are cur-rently asking the Section Executive for assistance with

setting up Section-related information prior to the launch. This may be a useful tool to augment our cur-rent methods of distributing Section information. Please keep an eye out for the launch announcement.

Second, I would like to announce that there has been a significant level of response to the membership survey. Thank you. This is especially significant to me as the survey was relatively long. The Executive Committee will be using the results of the survey as a baseline set of information to guide us over the next several years. Although you can expect new surveys in the coming years, they will not likely be as extensive. Note that the survey will close April 1st and the Executive Committee will conduct the drawing at the April 12th meeting.

Finally, the next event is the 9th Annual Spring Trans-portation Symposium on April 8th. Registration is open until April 1st. Opportunities for sponsorship and rec-ognition at the symposium are also available until April 1st. I appreciate the efforts of our organizing commit-tee, which is comprised of volunteers from each of our hosting organizations: ITE Colorado-Wyoming Section, WTS Colorado Chapter, ITS Rocky Mountain Chapter, American Council of Civil Engineering Companies of Colorado, APA of Colorado, and ASCE Colorado Section. This array of professional groups should bring interest-ing changes in the symposium participation and has even resulted in a new feature – the student poster ses-sion. I look forward to seeing you at the Symposium. Don’t forget that there is an open house and social hour after the keynote speaker.

Greg MacKinnon President Colorado-Wyoming Section ITE

Inside This Issue ...

Committee Reports · 2 Treasurer’s Report · 3 Announcements · 4 Technical Article · 5

Puzzle Maniac · 7 Events Calendar · 9

Upcoming Events ...

Spring Transportation Symposium

April 8, 2011

PAGE 2 MARCH 2011 CONVEYANCES

A Colorado/Wyoming Section ITE luncheon was held on Friday, March 4, 2011 at the Giuseppes Depot Restau-rant in Colorado Springs. Section President, Greg MacKinnon, presided over the meeting that was at-tended by 45 members and guests.

Greg MacKinnon welcomed the attendees and the lunch-eon’s honored guests Dr. Jake Kononov, Dave Krauth, Dave Millar, and Bryan Allery. Greg also announced that the Section’s newly adopted bylaws are posted on the Section’s website at http://www.cowyite.org/SecDocs/. The Executive Committee has been actively seeking feedback from our members with member surveys at each of the luncheons. Please take this opportunity to let us know how you think the Section can better meet the demands of the members. A prize is drawn from the survey contributors at the following luncheon.

Vice President, Chris Sheffer, reminded everyone that the next meeting will be the 9th Annual Spring Trans-portation Symposium, held at the Pepsi Center on Fri-day, April 8th. The event has significantly grown in size and depth from last year. This year will be jointly hosted by CO/WY ITS, WTS Colorado, ITS Rocky Moun-tain, ACEC of Colorado, APA Colorado and ASCE of Colo-rado. A morning panel discussion, keynote speaker and eight technical sessions will address the region’s trans-portation issues. Registration is available on www.cowyite.org until April 1st. The event cost is $55 for the Full Symposium (8-3) $30 for the luncheon only (12-3) and Students are $10.

The annual Colorado/Wyoming ITE Golf Tournament will be held at the CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora on June 10th. The cost this year is $110 per player, which includes golf, carts, range balls, coffee and breakfast burritos, a BBQ lunch, and, as always, a sand trap full of prizes. A tournament registration form and sponsorship form are now available at www.cowyite.org.

Chris Sheffer introduced the technical presentation, a panel discussion on the new Highway Safety Manual. The panelists included Dr. Jake Kononov (Branch Man-

February Luncheon by Kari McDowell, Section Scribe

ager at CDOT Applied Research and Innovation), Dave Krauth (City of Colorado Springs Traffic Engineer), Dave Millar (Principal at Fehr and Peers), and Bryan Allery (CDOT Manager of Safety Programs.) Additional infor-mation on the manual is available at www.highwaysafetymanual.org.

The luncheon was recorded. A video will be available online at www.cowyite.org/videos/.

The Colorado/Wyoming Section contact is Greg MacKinnon of the Denver Regional Council of Govern-ments, (303) 480-5633; [email protected]. Also, please visit our Section’s website at www.cowyite.org.


2011 ITE Golf Tournament Benefitting the ITE Student Scholarship Fund

Spring is finally upon us, so it’s time to dust off the clubs, shake the rust from the swing and start preparing your game for this year’s Colorado/Wyoming Section ITE Golf Tournament. The festivities take place on Friday, June 10th at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colorado, located just west of Lowry at the corner of Alameda and Havana. The cost this year is $110 per player, which includes golf, carts, range balls, coffee and breakfast burritos, a BBQ lunch, prizes and awards.

The tournament registration form is now available on the Section website at www.cowyite.org/activities.

And when you sign up, why not also consider a sponsor-ship this year? Sponsorships, either as company, team or an individual, are always appreciated as they help provide participants with excellent on-course and atten-dance prizes, but most importantly, they benefit the ITE Student Scholarship Fund. Every contribution is appreci-ated, but this year we’re suggesting four sponsorship levels, similar to what we did last year:

• Par - $100. This package includes your team/

company name on the rules sheet and recognition at the awards luncheon.

• Birdie - $420. Includes everything in the Par

package, plus a hole sponsorship sign, plus registra-tion for two players. You can also elect to sign up for a birdie package without including the player registration component. The cost for that option is $200.

• Eagle - $740. Includes everything in the Birdie

package, plus sponsorship of one of the on-course competitions (longest drive, closest to the pin, etc.), plus registration for two additional players (four players total). The cost of this package without player registration is $300.

• Double Eagle - $940. Includes everything in the

Eagle package plus your company name on each golf cart. The cost of this package without player registration is $500.

Sponsorship forms will also be available on the website.

If you have any questions about the tournament, please contact Jeff Ream at [email protected] or Craig Faessler at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you in early June at CommonGround Golf Course!

Golf Committee by Jeff Ream, Chair

Treasurer’s Report by John LaSala, Section Secretary/Treasurer

The current budget summary is listed below.

If you have any questions or comments concerning this budget summary, please con-ta c t John LaSa la a t [email protected].

Income Budget ActualExecutive Committee

Business Card Ads $3,375.00 $5,175.00Dues - ITE Payment $4,000.00 $2,736.00Dues - Misc $300.00 $12.00Employment Ads $150.00 $100.00Interest $200.00 $74.18Lunch Meetings $9,700.00 $6,440.35Spring Symposium $8,250.00 $0.00Vendor Show $11,200.00 $12,123.10

ActivitiesAnnual Activity $2,500.00 $0.00WES Breakfast $0.00 $298.14

Continuing Education $4,500.00 $420.00Golf $8,000.00 $0.00

Subtotal $52,175.00 $27,378.77

Expense Budget ActualExecutive Committee

Administrative $1,400.00 $526.04President's D6 registration $500.00 $0.00Bank Charges $100.00 $40.00EC Meetings $1,000.00 $656.42Lunch Meetings $10,600.00 $7,041.31Program Committee $1,500.00 $904.18Newsletter Contest $100.00 $135.00Table Survey Contest $0.00 $100.00Spring Symposium $8,250.00 $1,135.00Vendor Show $7,000.00 $8,571.48

ActivitiesCharitable Giving $1,000.00 $1,200.00Happy Hour $350.00 $0.00Annual Activity $2,500.00 $0.00WES Breakfast $0.00 $553.32

Awards $250.00 $173.81Continuing Education $4,500.00 $388.18Membership Committee $240.00 $0.00Golf $8,000.00 $742.55Student Chapter $3,000.00 $0.00Technical Committee $0.00 $0.00Website Committee $250.00 $95.40Website Upgrade $1,635.00 $0.00

Subtotal $52,175.00 $22,262.69

Total $0.00 $5,116.08

Actual Cash Flow as of March 12, 2011


SECTION ANNOUNCEMENTS Please send any announcements that you wish to be posted in the newsletter to Bart Przybyl, Newsletter Editor, [email protected].

STUDENT CHAPTER LIAISON—UCD We have volunteers filling both of our Student Chapter Professional Liaison on the Section Executive Commit-tee. Our current volunteer serving as the Student Chap-ter Professional Liaison for the University of Colorado – Denver (UCD) Chapter, although happy to assist, is not a recent graduate of UCD.

The main role of the liaison position is to coordinate between the Section Executive Committee and the Stu-dent Chapter Executive Committee.

The preferred characteristics of the person filling each position are:

• a recent graduate from the school at which the stu-

dent chapter resides

• a member of the Section

• employed in the transportation engineering field

within the Section

• interested in advancing the objectives of the Section

and ITE

If you are interested in volunteering for this position and you are a recent graduate of UCD, please contact the Section President, Greg MacKinnon, at 303-480-5633 or [email protected].

BEST OF THE BEST IN THE WEST

The Western District will be publishing an online “Best of the Best in the West” technical newsletter May 2011. It will consist of top 25 technical articles from our district. There will be a limit of only one article per agency or company. The article is limited to 3,500 words and may include photos. The last day to submit your article is April 1, 2011. If you have any questions please Zaki Mustafa [email protected]. Com-pleted articles are to be submitted to Nathan Mustafa [email protected].


Technical Committee Interest Column by Nitin Deshpande, P.E., Jacobs

Clarus – Road Weather Information System

At a recent ITE technical meeting, I visited the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Information Dissemina-tion Kiosk. Among other topics of interest, I came across the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) ini-tiative known as the Clarus Initiative, a joint effort of the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, the FHWA Road Management Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Clarus (Latin word for clear) Initiative, started in 2004, is a multi-year effort to develop and demonstrate an inte-grated surface transportation weather observation data

management system and to establish a partnership to create Nationwide Sur-face Transportat ion Weather Observing and Forecasting System.

Adverse weather condi-tions have a major impact on the safety and opera-tion of our Nation’s roads. Weather affects driver behavior, vehicle perform-ance, and roadway infra-structure. According to

the Transportation Research Board (TRB), adverse weather is associated with over 1.5 million motor vehicle crashes each year resulting in over 800,000 injuries and 7,400 fatalities. Clarus is expected to help roadway us-ers, transportation managers, and weather providers nationwide be more prepared to deal with adverse road weather condition(s) – rain, sleet, snow, ice, fog, wind, flooding or dust. The new road weather and forecasting capabilities created by Clarus will collect weather obser-vations from both weather and transportation sources and turn them into valuable road weather information. On the weather side, these sources include Doppler ra-

dar, weather balloons, personal information, measure-ments of barometric pressure, and computer models used by meteorologists. On the transportation side, the roadway surface information will be collected by over 2,500 weather stations that gather data from sensors embedded in the roadway, by roadside weather sensors, and in future, by in-vehicle technology as well.

Clarus is expected to provide clear benefits to everyone involved in weather and transportation. Transportation managers will have enhanced decision-making tools al-lowing them to more efficiently manage resources, more effectively maintain the roadways, and provide credible and precise travel advice. Weather providers will be able to provide high resolution weather analysis and forecasts and real-time travel conditions. The accuracy of Clarus could tell a traveler about specific route and the time bad weather is likely to arrive. Finally, the trav-elers will no longer have to engage in guess work when it comes to driving in bad weather or place themselves and others at risk by driving under dangerous road con-ditions.

A major benefit of Clarus is that it will allow for a seam-less sharing of information across state boundaries. The result would be a more complete, accurate weather pic-ture available to any roadway user, at anytime, any-where in the U.S. Clarus is expected to collect and ana-lyze data for accuracy and then package it in the for-mats tailored to meet the end-user requirements. Cla-rus is also expected to standardize data across regions, allowing transportation managers to review data from neighboring states. For more information on Clarus, I encourage you to visit the FHWA website at http://clarusinitiative.org


Life is a Highway! by Bill Hange, City of Loveland

Why do we do it…the transportation business that is? When you think about why you got into this business sometimes it all boils down to the satisfaction and enjoy-ment of helping others solve transportation problems. Even small problems to us like adding a warning sign or improving signal timing can end up helping others. Benefits enjoyed by the traveling public that we all work so hard to achieve mostly go unsung but are typically noticed.

At first, for you it may have been a love of planning changes to make a difference. Your school days of solv-ing problems using a math equation or figuring out story problems may have gotten you interested in engineering or planning. That spark may have come from a great teacher or professor challenging you with a story prob-

lem or a brain teaser. You may have gotten some good feelings after fixing you car’s electrical problem or wiring up some new stereo and speakers for your car (or even installing a stereo reverb for some of us back then).

Engineering training and/or other schooling equipped us with the thinking patterns and tools necessary to solve complex problems. Our training put us on the path to cultivating the use of “The Think Zone”. Soon, building bridges, creating new electrical circuits, planning road-ways, etc. became possibilities.

Possibilities for using our creativity, schooling, and ex-perience, in order to better the world around us became

endless. Statements of problems and givens lead to Ideas that started planning of concept alternatives that lead to final design drawings. These steps were fol-lowed by the construction and completion of a final product. That reward felt good and spurred this action cycle to repeat and to achieve even more.

Along the way we will take some criticism in the process of changing the world around us and working to move our profession higher. The spirit of discouragement easily dished out by others can make things look bleak at times. I urge you to stay on course and don’t give in to it as you will find some of the best times will come after the toughest ones.

You may ask a fellow ITE member to mentor or offer to be a mentor to a friend. This is what ITE is about. In our transportation world, innovative safety and mobility improvements can make a difference. Serving people by improving transportation systems is our reward.


Puzzle Maniac by Bart Przybyl, Newsletter Editor

Congratulations to James Paral, who was last month’s Puzzle Maniac winner! He graciously chose to donate his prize to the Scholarship Fund.

See below for this this issue’s puzzle.

Please send your answer to [email protected] by April 1, 2011.

The winner will be awarded a free ITE lunch OR a $25 gift cer-tificate to the establishment of their choice.

SOLUTION TO LAST NEWSLETTER’S PUZZLE

There missing numbers (top to bottom, left to right) are 49, 54, 29, 20, 20, 11, 23, 7, 9, and 14.

“A 80-mile commuter rail trip takes approximately 90 minutes to complete. For the first part of the trip, the train travels through a rural area and is able to travel at an average speed of 65 mph. Once the train enters the ur-ban area, it has to reduce it’s speed to 45 mph. For how long did the train travel at each speed?”



Events Calendar Please send events to be posted in this calendar to Bart Przybyl, Newsletter Editor, [email protected].

May 13, 2011 CO/WY ITE Section Luncheon Denver Metro

May 19-21, 2011 Intermountain ITE Section Annual Meeting Jackson Hole, WY

May 20, 2011 CO/WY ITE Section Executive Committee Meeting

MAY 2011

June 10, 2011 ITE Golf Tournament CommonGrounds Golf Course Aurora, CO

JUNE 2011

April 8, 2011 Ninth Annual Spring Transportation Symposium Denver Metro

April 15, 2011 CO/WY ITE Section Executive Committee Meeting

APR 2011

July 10-13, 2011 ITE District 6 Annual Meeting Anchorage, AK

JULY 2011


Nomination for Secretary/Treasurer for 2011-2012 by Ben Waldman, Past President

Chuck is currently a Senior Transportation Engineer at SEH and has 25 years of experi-ence in traffic engineering and transportation planning. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the Uni-versity of Rochester. His expertise is in regional, corridor and campus multi-modal transportation studies, traffic impact and safety studies, transit planning, public involve-ment programs, project management, and business development.

Chuck is an ITE Fellow and has been active for most of his career, attending many meetings on the section, district and international levels. He received the ITE Upstate New York Section Outstanding Service Award three times, and in 1996, received the ITE International Award for District and Section Newsletter. He has published 11 pa-pers and received the 2009 ITE District 6 Annual Meeting Best Paper Award. Chuck spent the last four years on the Board of Directors for WTS Colorado, serving as Secre-tary for the past two years. He is an active WTS member, having served on the Pro-

grams and Professional Development Committees.

“I would like to help the ITE Colorado/Wyoming chapter broaden its reach locally. As a member of WTS Colorado, I have helped to engage a diverse cross section of our profession to become actively involved in WTS programs. By offer-ing a product that is interesting not only to transportation engineers, but also to planners, political officials, practitioners, and others in transportation, ITE can have greater influence on the direction that our transportation system takes. I feel that my involvement in WTS and APA can help develop partnering opportunities with these sister agencies. Getting stu-dents more involved is another passion of mine, as they are crucial to ensuring that our professional stays vital. I look forward to helping our great section become even better.” – Chuck Huffine, PE, PTOE, AICP

Aaron Heumann is an Associate with Martin/Martin leading the Traffic Team in servicing public and private clients on a variety of transportation and traffic engineering projects. Since graduating with a BSCE in 1993 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mr. Heumann has amassed almost 18 years of professional experience working in the private sector at such firms as Martin/Martin, Fehr & Peers, Ricondo & Associates (an airport planning firm), and URS (formerly BRW). He also worked in the public sector for the City of St. Paul, Minnesota Public Works department. Mr. Heumann has been a registered Professional Engineer since 1998 and is currently registered in Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. He has also been a Professional Traffic Operations En-gineer since 2002.

Mr. Heumann is an active member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). After serving as the Financial Chair on the Local Arrangements Committee for the Dis-

trict 6 2009 Conference held in Denver, Mr. Heumann was named a Colorado/Wyoming Section Transportation Profes-sional of the Year in 2009. He was also honored with a service award from the North Central Section in 2003 for his many years as the Membership Chair when he lived in Minnesota. Mr. Heumann is also a dedicated member of his com-munity as a long standing Commissioner on the Littleton Housing Authority Board and a dedicated volunteer competitive soccer coach for the past five years.

The Colorado-Wyoming Section Executive Committee has accepted two nominations for the position of Secretary/Treasurer for fiscal year 2012, which begins in September. The Secretary/Treasurer is the custodian for all Section funds and is responsible for the documentation of all Section meetings and correspondence. The Secretary/Treasurer also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Section newsletter and coordinates membership communications with other members of the Executive Committee.

The nominees will be given an opportunity to speak to the attendees of the May 13, 2011 luncheon. Voting will open on May 16, 2011 when eligible members will receive an e-mail with instructions to cast an electronic ballot. Voting will close on May 30, 2011, at 5:00 PM.

Secretary/Treasurer Nominee: Chuck Huffine, P.E., PTOE, AICP

Secretary/Treasurer Nominee: Aaron Heumann , P.E., PTOE


PAGE 12 SEPTEMBER 2009 CONVEYANCES

2010—2011 Executive Committee

Vendor Show Coordinator Will Johnson Apex Design, PC 303-339-0440 [email protected]

Activities Report Coordinator Sarah Karjala DRCOG 303-480-6762 [email protected]

Section Scribe Kari McDowell McDowell Engineering, LLC 303-949-4748 [email protected]

Golf Committee Jeff Ream Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig 303-721-1440 [email protected]

Awards Committee Dave Hattan Felsburg, Holt & Ullevig 303-721-1440 [email protected]

Vice-President Chris Sheffer Fehr & Peers 303-296-4300 [email protected]

Continuing Education Committee Joe Henderson Sustainable Traffic Solutions, Inc. 303-589-6875 [email protected]

President Greg MacKinnon DRCOG 303-480-5633 [email protected]

Website Committee Duane Cleere AECOM USA, Inc. 303-325-8036 [email protected]

Legislative Committee Scott Thomas Apex Design, PC 303-339-0440 [email protected]

Past President Ben Waldman Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. 720-359-3007 [email protected]

Activities Committee Eric Boivin All Traffic Data Services 303-216-2439 [email protected]

Technical Committee Nitin Deshpande Jacobs 303-223-5889 [email protected]

Scholarship and Career Guidance Committee Melissa Rosas Apex Design, PC 303-339-0440 [email protected]

Secretary/Treasurer John LaSala City and County of Denver 720-913-4534 [email protected]

Newsletter Editor Bart Przybyl Apex Design, PC 303-339-0440

[email protected]


Membership Committee Trung Vo City and County of Denver 720-913-0721 [email protected]

Student Chapter Liaisons

University of Wyoming Chris Vokurka

University of Colorado at Denver Freddy He

Documents

VOLUME 14 - 6 MARCH 2011 Conveyances March.pdfEngineering in 40 Hours, by Michael Kyte, Andrea Bill, and Rhonda Young. [October 2010]. • Reducing Congestion at Grand Canyon’s South