2012 Accomplishments Report

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System Performance

Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) — Air Quality

Indiana has submitted several of its Statewide Implementation Plan "budgets" for air quality conformity. This was accomplished after extensive training on and development of air quality analysis tools by Division staff in cooperation with INDOT and the MPOs. The new fleet mix data was approved early in the performance year; and then a validation tool was completed later in the year. This will help expedite the air quality conformity analysis process. The Division is pleased to report that the Indianapolis MPO is expected to be the first "budget" approved in the Nation.

Management/Operations of Toll Road as Interstate Facility (INDOT Involvement)

When a major system connection ramp was closed along the leased Toll Road in Indiana, the Division was advised that the concessionaire was simply unaware of the federal requirements to coordinate operational closures of the Interstate system with INDOT and FHWA. While inspecting NHS Intermodal connectors, the Division identified a second ramp to the Toll Road had been closed during construction. As a result, INDOT and the Division began requiring more formal coordination with the concessionaire to avoid similar oversights in the future. Further, INDOT established a new office to provide oversight of the Toll Road operations.

Incident and Emergency Management Program

The Division has been working with INDOT to develop and maintain a robust Incident and Emergency Management Program. Towards this effort, FHWA hosted an Indiana Traffic Incident Management Effort (IN-TIME) Workshop, an ITS Architecture Update, and a Turbo Architecture Refresher training session. IN-TIME is a group of public and private sector stakeholders that develop and recommend policy and operational protocols for the safe and efficient mitigation of traffic incidents. With the Division’s support, this group recently developed a Media Response Guide, Interagency Communications Best Practices, Quick Clearance, Photogrammetry Guidance, Guidelines for the Mitigation of Motor Vehicle Fluid Spills, and Towing and Wrecker Recovery Best Management Practice, as well as multiple areas of training. The Division continues to be an active member of this group as well as encourage its further development.

Highway Safety

In PY 2012, the Division coordinated or provided various safety training sessions and presentations at the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), a Purdue-Calumet seminar, Road School, and through LTAP. Staff also wrote articles on highway safety for publication in the LTAP newsletter.

Division staff partnered with INDOT and other transportation partners to implement new Safety Countermeasures throughout the state. Those implemented include roundabouts, pedestrian hybrid beacons, safety edge, backplates with retroreflective borders, and system-wide safety improvements such as curve treatments, center and edgeline rumble strips, and median cable rail. In conjunction with INDOT, a Work Zone Safety Process Review was conducted. The Division continued to work with INDOT to develop a data warehouse to access safety data and provide analysis opportunities for the LPAs and the public.

We worked with INDOT to increase the level of obligation and expenditure of Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding which is currently at about 64% over the life of SAFETEA-LU plus extensions.

Pavement Design Certification

The Division assisted INDOT in developing a Joint Density recurring special provision which was approved by the INDOT Standards Committee for contracts. Staff also worked with INDOT on the creation of a Pavement Design Certification process for Pavement Design Engineers including DARWinME and life-cycle cost analysis. The Division continued to work with INDOT to utilize its Pavement Preservation Initiative. This initiative ties INDOT’s Asset Management policy, including advancing research projects, with developing market-ready technology to improve the pavement preservation program. We also continued to work with INDOT to improve its pavement construction and materials quality.

National Bridge Inventory

The Division completed its National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) Compliance Review in December 2011. The State of Indiana had substantial compliance with eight (8) Metrics; and conditional compliance on the remaining Metrics based on approved corrective action plans. The NBIS review included corrective action plans for bridges susceptible to scour and those with unknown foundations. The Division continued to monitor INDOT’s progress on addressing items outlined in the corrective action plans for those metrics.

Staff also continued working with INDOT on improving its methodology of the identification of fracture critical bridges in Indiana.

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