Oregon ITE: April Section Report

The 20^th Annual Oregon ITE Golf Tournament was held on Friday, September 18^th, 2009 at the OGA Golf Course in Woodburn, Oregon. As an ITE–sponsored event, the tournament provided a unique opportunity for over 50 private consultants and public officials to engage in an open environment during a friendly game of golf. Key sponsors for the event included Kittelson & Associates, Inc., Quality Counts, CH2MHill, David Evans & Associates, Inc., DKS Associates, and Lancaster Engineering.

The Oregon Chapter of ITE hosted another Happy Hour/After Work Social on Thursday, October 1^st at Kells Irish Pub in downtown Portland, Oregon. The happy hours are purely social events that provide a great opportunity to get together with fellow traffic engineers over a good pint of ale and a bite to eat. These events have been well attended by students as well as professionals, and provide great networking opportunities.

The Oregon ITE October Section lunch was held on Wednesday, October 7^th, 2009 at Bridgeport Brewing in Portland, Oregon. Over 40 people turned out to listen to Ed Fischer from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) present on his recent Pedestrian/Bike Scan Tour of five European countries, including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Ed was Co-Chair of the AASHTO/FHWA/NCHRP International Technology Scanning Team that went to Europe in May 2009 looking at innovative bicycle and pedestrian treatments that may have some application in the U.S. The presentation focused primarily on various Engineering applications, as well as education programs, encouragement strategies, and enforcement practices in use throughout Europe.

Traffic day was held on Tuesday, October 20^th, 2009 in conjunction with the International Municipal Signal Association (IMSA) NW Section Annual Meeting in Eugene, Oregon. Traffic Day provided three different tracks to chose from, including signals, signing and markings, and safety. The main portion of the IMSA meeting (outside of Traffic Day) was focused on advanced training sessions on wide range of topics, including traffic signals, signs and marking, lighting, and fiber optics.. IMSA is a great resource that provides trainings on materials not often covered.

The 18^th annual ITE Traffic Bowl was held on Thursday, November 19^th, 2009 at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon. This and future traffic bowls were officially renamed the William C. Kloos Traffic Bowl in honor of the late Bill Kloos, whose contribution to the transportation engineering profession extended well beyond his participation in ITE. A total of five schools participated in the event, including Portland State University, Oregon Institute of Technology, Oregon State University, University of Washington, and former traffic bowl champions, University of Portland. It was an exciting event that culminated in the victory of a new champion, Portland State University, and the presentation of a newly designed ITE Traffic Bowl trophy. The old trophy, with the previous 17 Traffic Bowl champions engraved, has been retired and is in the possession of the Oregon Section ITE group.

On the morning after the 18^th Annual Traffic Bowl, student participants, consultants, and public agency officials were given the opportunity to tour and ride the Hawthorne Bridge that spans the Willamette River in downtown Portland as Multnomah County staff accommodated the visit by stopping late-morning traffic along the bridge to raise it to its peak. Although it was a rainy morning, the views were great and the experience memorable.

The annual Technical Workshop was held on Tuesday, January 26^th at ODOT Region 1 in Portland, Oregon. The workshop provided insight into current roundabout practice and informed participants of recent updates to several guidance and engineering documents typically used in the profession, noting key changes or new information. We heard from a number of guest speakers including Ed Fischer from ODOT, Brian Walsh from Washington State DOT, Lee Rodegerdts and Scott Beaird from Kittelson & Associates, Inc., Robin Lewis from the City of Bend, OR, Brian Barnett from the City of Springfield, OR, and Vince Hall from Clackamas County.

The Oregon Chapter of ITE hosted another Happy Hour/After Work Social on Thursday, February 4^th at Kells Irish Pub in downtown Portland. The happy hours are purely social events and provide a great opportunity to together with fellow traffic engineers over a good pint of ale and a bite to eat. These events have been well attended by students as well as professionals, and provide great networking opportunities.

Our March Section meeting was held on Thursday, March 18 at Bridegeport Brewery in Portland, Oregon. The City of Portland Bicycle Coordinator, Roger Gellar, provided a presentation on the Portland Bicycle Plan. Portland’s recently adopted Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 focuses principally on policy, network and design improvements in support of a city where 25 percent of all trips will be made by bicycle. Roger discussed the plan’s highlights as well as current efforts to advance its implementation.