National Association of County Engineers   ~ September 2019
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Update from NACE President Tim Hens  

Welcome to football season! I know not everyone is a fan, but I think it is safe to say most folks have a team they are rooting for. Whether it's your local high school, college, an SEC powerhouse or the NFL, there always seems to be plenty of excitement. As a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan and season ticket holder, Sundays are spent with family enjoying the tailgating and the game. No, you won't see me body-slamming anyone through a flaming folding table on YouTube, but you will definitely see me sporting the Buffalo red, white and blue at the NACE Tailgate Event at the Wharf in Orange Beach, Alabama next spring! I really hope everyone can make our annual conference next April. The Alabama County Engineers have some great events lined up for us!!

Speaking of Alabama, I just returned from a visit to Orange Beach where I attended the Alabama County Commissioners Association (ACCA) conference and made a presentation to the Alabama County Engineers Association (ACEA), who is our NACE State Affiliate. The venue for their conference is the very same location we will be hosting NACE next spring. The resort is amazing, and it is literally right on the white sand beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. Aside from the location, the conference offered a great exhibit hall, technical sessions, and it was impressive to hear the County Engineers and Commissioners recount and reflect on the recent passage of their Rebuild Alabama legislation. Rebuild Alabama is a gas tax increase that will drive much-needed infrastructure funds toward county roads and bridges. ACEA has done an amazing job developing the "nuts and bolts" as to how the funding will be distributed, monitored and accounted for.They literally created every step of the way... from building the public trust, to an easy and fair bidding process, to educating their elected officials. While a gas tax increase

National Roundabouts Week 2019

As a service to our members, NACE indicates this announcement from the Federal Highway Administration
 
National Roundabouts Week is September 16-20:

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 11, 2019 - The upcoming National Roundabouts Week is purposed to raise awareness about roundabouts and provide a national platform to share the successes that state, local and tribal transportation agencies have had using them to make intersections safer. The social media-driven campaign will seed posts and conversations using the hashtag #RoundaboutsWeek. Join the interchange and use the hashtag!

Content that FHWA originates or links to will regard the following topics:
  • Roundabouts to save lives and prevent injuries
  • Basic rules of the road at roundabouts
  • Dispelling common roundabout myths
  • Interesting, fun facts about roundabouts
  • Highlighting successful roundabouts from around the U.S.
There's no way around it---roundabouts are an effective safety countermeasure.

Bookmark the National Roundabouts Week Page here
NACE Western Region Update  
 
NACE welcomes all Executive Committee Members to submit written items for the benefit of our members. The following  essay  was provided to NACE by Mark Storey, Vice President of the Western Region and NACE Executive Committee Member.
  
Western Region Update

The State of Washington is currently wrestling with a very serious environmental issue involving fish passage under state-owned road rights-of-way. In 2001, twenty-one Washington State tribes filed suit in Federal District Court seeking to compel the State of Washington to repair or replace culverts (owned by the State DOT) that acted as barriers to fish migration. The culverts were situated in only 14 of the 39 counties in Washington State.
Dissatisfied with the state's progress, the tribes sought and won a permanent injunction in 2013 that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018, ordering Washington State to replace all the offending culverts under state-owned roads within the fourteen-county case area by the year 2030.
This case area includes an estimated 800 state-owned barriers within fourteen counties surrounding Puget Sound. The state has estimated costs in excess of $2 billion to address the 800+ barriers under state roads (primarily State highways).
For every State DOT barrier, on average, there are two other (non-DOT barriers) downstream and five ''upstream" according to a July 2012 study. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's (WDFW) inventory lists over 3,200 known county-owned fish barriers in the same 14 county case area, with an estimated potential for 10,000 county-owned barriers statewide. The cost to replace county-owned barriers in the fourteen-county case area is currently estimated at $7.7 billion. The cost estimate to
  
 
What's New in Washington

  Safety Compass Newsletter

FHWA to Redistribute $3.98B In FY 2019 Formula Funds

Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicle 3.0

America is in desperate need of infrastructure investment: Senate highway bill a step in the right direction

FHWA Innovator-September/October Issue
Job Postings
 
Washington - Thurston County:

California - The County of San Bernardino:

Check out the rest of the latest job postings from our members here