Transportation officials to headline Purdue Road School
March 1, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —Top federal and state transportation officials will kick off the 96th annual Purdue Road School, to be held March 9-11.Some 1,500 local and state transportation officials from throughout Indiana will participate in the event, sponsored by the Joint Transportation Research Program in cooperation with the Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program, both housed at Purdue.
The conference, the oldest of its kind in the nation, will feature a number of state, federal, academic and transportation industry experts. All conference sessions, which will be held in Stewart Center, are free and open to the public, although registration is required.
Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez and Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Michael Reed will speak at the Road School's opening session, 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 9. Also participating will be Chris Bauserman of the National Association of County Engineers.
“We are delighted to have an exceptionally distinguished panel for our opening session," said Darcy M. Bullock, Road School co-chairman and professor of civil engineering. "They will provide insight on upcoming transportation priorities at the federal, state, and local levels."
Safety and budget concerns will be among ongoing themes throughout the Road School.
Several sessions will focus on environmental issues, including "Back to Basics: Bats, Bones and Bogs," which is an overview of the National Environmental Policy Act and its effect on transportation-related projects. Planning and designing bicycle-friendly communities also will be discussed.
Results of the Indiana Historic Bridge Inventory will be discussed at one session, while another session will look at design challenges of historic bridges on low-volume roads.
An update on funding and current levels of spending for the federal Economic Stimulus program is planned. Included will be information on the number of projects under construction and those to be let, geographic dispersion of the projects and additional funding available.
Purdue football coach Danny Hope will be the speaker at the noon luncheon on Wednesday, March 10. Lunch tickets are $20.
Various transportation-related associations will hold business meetings on Thursday morning, March 11.
The Road School, held annually at Purdue since 1914, brings together transportation-related professionals from the federal level to the smallest municipalities in the state. It is co-sponsored by Purdue's School of Civil Engineering and the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Detailed information on the Road School program and online registration are available at https://www.purdue.edu/jtrp
Writer: Judith Barra Austin, 765-494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu
Sources: Darcy M. Bullock, 765-494-2226, darcy@purdue.edu
John Haddock, Road School co-chairman, 765-496-3996, jhaddock@purdue.edu
Karen S. Hatke, JTRP program coordinator, 765-494-9310, kshatke@purdue.edu