EDUCATION COOPERATION UNIFORMITY

Transcription

1 How Has Traffic Reporting Changed?, pg 1 EDUCATION COOPERATION UNIFORMITY $583M I-215 Project Begins, pg 3 The Official Newsletter of the Orange County Traffic Engineers Council SEPTEMBER 2009 PROGRAM SPEAKER & TOPIC SEPTEMBER MEETING The meeting will be at: Claim Jumper September 24, :30 AM 1:00 PM Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, CA (SEC Brookhurst/Talbert use I-405/Brookhurst exit) Please RSVP to Mark Esposito at by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, September 22 $20 with RSVP $25 at the door How has traffic and the reporting of traffic changed in Southern California in the past decade? That is what famous newsperson and announcer David Courtney will be speaking upon at the next OCTEC meeting in September. Known as the public announcer for the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Angels, and now the Los Angeles Clippers, Mr. Courtney has also spent over 15 years as a news and traffic reporter for KABC 790 AM radio and knows the local traffic landscape well. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: David Courtney is in his 21st season as the Public Address Announcer for the Kings and 32nd season overall working for the club in Born in New York City, Courtney and family moved to Los Angeles in 1963 when his father, Alan, a network television executive, became President of MGM Television. He saw his first Kings game in 1968 on a school recreational group outing and fell in love with the sport and the Kings. At age 14, he was given a job as a go-fer in the Kings' Public Relations Department. Under the guidance of legendary P.A. announcer, John Ramsay, he learned the craft well enough to become Ramsay's back-up for both the Kings and the Lakers. In 1978, at age 21, Courtney reluctantly left the Kings to take his first fulltime job as P.R. Director for the Houston Aeros of the WHA. After the Aeros folded, he remained in Houston and began a successful broadcasting career in both radio and television and found himself (Continued on page 2) Institute of Transportation Engineers 2010 Western District Annual Meeting San Francisco, California June 27-30, 2010 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS The Local Arrangements Committee (LAC) is now accepting abstracts for presentations. The LAC intends to develop a highly diverse and interesting Technical Program and will consider presentations in any new and emerging areas of general interest. For more information, go to the internet link: sanfran10/sanfran2010callforabstracts.pdf Inside this issue: Traffic Reporting: Then and Now 1 National News 2 OCTA Board Actions 3 OCTEC Membership Dues 5

2 Traffic Reporting: Then and Now (Continued from page 1) in demand as a P.A. announcer; eventually handling the Houston Rockets, USFL Gamblers and sharing the Houston Astros But the Kings and hockey remained his first love. In 1985, Courtney returned to the Kings as P.R. Director and then as their P.A. Announcer beginning with the season. In addition to the Kings, he has since become wellknown as the P.A. Announcer for the Angels baseball team (16 years) and is in his second season as the announcer of the Clippers. He has also announced at least one or more games for the Lakers, Dodgers, Raiders, USC football, UCLA basketball and the Pac-10 basketball tournament. Since 1992, Courtney's full-time work has been with Metro Networks as a traffic and news reporter, heard daily since 1994 on KABC 790 AM and recently KOLA 99.9 FM in the Inland Empire. Courtney, 53 and his fiancé, Janet Fisher, reside in Rancho Santa Margarita. NATIONAL NEWS Nation's Top Highway Official Helps Break Ground on I-215 Widening in San Bernardino Construction Starts on Nation's Largest ARRA- Funded Highway Project to Date SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez broke ground on the third and fourth phases of the I-215 Widening Project in San Bernardino today, the nation's largest American Recovery and Reinvestment (ARRA)-funded highway project to begin construction to date. "Projects like this are evidence that strengthening the economy begins with investment in our local communities," said Administrator Mendez. "Improving major routes like the I-215 will ease local traffic congestion, put thousands of people in southern California back to work and pave the way toward economic prosperity." The I-215 project is one of only six highway Recovery Act initiatives in the nation currently valued at more than $100 million. The third and fourth phases of the project, which begin today, are estimated to cost $583 million. Phase 3 is supported by $128 million in ARRA funding. Construction began on the project's first two phases in 2007, which includes bridge replacement and road widening along the southern end of the corridor in downtown San Bernardino. When completed in 2013, all four phases of the $800 million project will help revitalize one of America's most economically distressed communities. It will also greatly ease congestion along a route expected to grow from an estimated 83,000 drivers daily to 130,000 in the next 20 years. Of the $26.6 billion in Recovery Act funds available nationwide for highways, more than 7,000 projects worth more than $18 billion have been obligated. California has obligated $2 billion or 79 percent of its $2.6 billion share of the funding available for highways and bridge construction. Administrator Mendez joined Caltrans Director Randell Iwasaki, San Bernardino Mayor Patrick Morris, and San Bernardino Area Council of Governments President Paul Eaton at the groundbreaking. Additional information about ARRA can be found on the Federal Highway Administration Web site, or at the White House's Page 2

3 Orange County Transportation Authority Board Actions Bus Service Reductions Pushed Back To March The board voted to delay cutting 300,000 hours of bus service until March in order to allow sufficient time to plan the changes and notify the public. The board decided a one-time reduction of 300,000 service hours would be easier on customers rather than changing service every three months for the next year. Earlier this year, the board approved reducing approximately 400,000 service hours in fiscal year OCTA faces a $272-million budget shortfall over the next five years because of the elimination of State Transit Assistance funds and a significant decline in sales tax revenue. A public hearing regarding the March service reductions will be conducted in October. Laguna Beach Goes Into Step Two Of Go Local The board approved a contract with Laguna Beach to begin work on step two of the Go Local program, which will entail service planning of the city s proposed connection from downtown Laguna Beach to Irvine Metrolink station. Go Local, a four-step program, is designed to accommodate Metrolink service in 2010 by enhancing connections between Metrolink stations and surrounding communities through the use of bus and shuttle services. OCTA has approved cooperative agreements with Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Irvine, Fullerton, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, San Clemente and Westminster. In step two, OCTA will work with the cities to create a detailed plan to determine route locations, operating costs and anticipated ridership of the bus and shuttle systems. Riverside Freeway Projects Rolls Forward Plans to expand the Riverside Freeway (SR-91) took a step forward when the board approved a contract with RBF Consulting to perform architectural and engineering work. The freeway improvement project will add one lane in the westbound direction on SR-91 between the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) and Orange Freeway (SR-57). The widening project is funded through Renewed Measure M. POSTING ADVERTISEMENTS If you have positions you would like to advertise, or would like to post an announcement, post it in the next OCTEC newsletter. $50 for a one-time 1/4 page entry. Please send to: Mark Esposito OCTEC Sponsorship/Membership Coordinator EDUCATION COOPERATION UNIFORMITY Page 3

4 This month s newsletter is brought to you by: Page 4

5 2009 / 2010 MEMBERSHIP DUES Dues will be collected on a calendar year basis with the hopes that this will be more convenient for members. For the year, the dues, collected in January, will be $25. Members receiving the newsletter and meeting notices can pay their dues at the monthly luncheon or can be mailed to: Mark Esposito Alton Pkwy. Irvine, CA We appreciate your continued interest in OCTEC and welcome your comments. Sponsorship Everyone at OCTEC would like to give a special thanks to all of our generous 2009/2010 sponsors! September October Albert Grover and Associates. Urban Crossroads RBF Consultants February March KOA Corporation Kimley Horn and Associates RBF Consultants November December January No Meeting / No Newsletter No Meeting / No Newsletter WGZE Iteris April May/June July If you would like to be a sponsor, the cost is $100. To reserve the next available newsletter, please contact: Mark Esposito, Sponsorship/Membership Coordinator, OCTEC Officers Jason Melchor, Co-President Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. 765 The City Drive, Suite 400 Orange, CA phone: (714) fax: (714) Jason.Melchor@kimley-horn.com Ramin Massoumi, Co-President/ Secretary Iteris, Inc Carnegie Avenue, Suite 100 Santa Ana, CA phone: (949) fax: (949) rmm@iteris.com Ron Keith, Treasurer OCTA 550 S. Main Street Orange, CA phone: (949) rkeith@octa.net Mark Esposito, Sponsorship/ Membership Coordinator RBF Consulting Alton Pkwy. Irvine, CA phone: (949) fax: (949) Design: M. C. Brooks (mcb2@iteris.com) Page 5