4 The Legend—September 2013

District 3 Employee News

Dates to Remember

9/22 Autumn Begins

9/30 CCC Pledge Form Due

10/14 Columbus Day

(ODOT Closed)

10/16 National Boss’ Day

10/24 United Nations Day

10/31 Halloween

New Hires

Zach Brodie, Highway Technician 1 in

Wayne County.

Mike Lemmon, Highway Technician 1 in

Wayne County.

Rick Mosher, Highway Technician 1 in

Erie County.

District Office Complex Updates

The electric entry gate to the back of the

District complex has a new card reader. If

you need to enter when the gate is

closed, you must use your Employee ID

Card to access the gate. The number pad

no longer exists.

A contractor will begin replacing the roof

to the District Complex this week; no im-

pacts to employees are expected.

HT Series News

Pretesting will be held on September 17

and 24. Classes in the HT Academy are

being scheduled soon. Please be sure to

check your emails for notices of classes.

Combined Charitable Campaign

The 2013 State of Ohio Combined Chari-

table Campaign is officially underway.

Soon, you will receive a pre-printed

pledge card if you choose to donate to

your favorite charity through the CCC.

This year, you could win a day off with

pay by pledging a donation with the

CCC. Turn in your completed pledge

form to Christine Myers by September 30

to be entered in to the drawing. One

winner will be chosen in District 3.

John R. Kasich

Governor

Jerry Wray

Director

Allen C. Biehl, P.E.

District Deputy Director

September 2013

What’s inside…

DDD Corner

Customer Kudos

Team Up ODOT

Getting to know…

From Concept to Completion in One Year: Boston Road project true example of teamwork

The Legend District 3 Employee Newsletter

In this month’s banner:

Construction crews put

finishing touches on the

Boston Road project

Get to know…

Judy Plato Judy Plato is the Administrative Assistant to

DDD Allen Biehl and has worked at ODOT for

nearly four years. Previously, Judy worked for

the International Bowhunting Organization

and the City of Vermilion. “Judy is someone I

can trust completely to get any job done,”

said DDD Biehl. “She is a reliable source of

information and a hard-worker. Judy takes

the majority of inquiries in to my office, and

she has this great ability to build an immedi-

ate rapport with even the most dissatisfied

customers. I’m glad she is part of my team.”

Family: Husband, Erik

Pets: Gigi, our Bassett Hound

Hobbies: Golf and trying to train Gigi; if you

ask my husband, he would say ‘shopping.’

Favorite Book: Knight in Shining Armor by

Jude Deveraux

Favorite TV show: Blue Bloods, and anything

starting with ‘The Real Housewives

of…’ (shame on me)

Favorite movie (s): To Kill a Mockingbird;

Moonstruck; Pride & Prejudice; You’ve Got

Mail (in that order)

Favorite restaurant: Diso’s Bistro—Lorain’s

best kept secret

Favorite vacation spot: Any great golf resort

The best CD album is: Anything and every-

thing by Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Joe

Bonamassa (I

love the

sweet sound

of a blues

guitar)

Ringtone on

my cellphone

is: Every time

I sing the

Blues, by

Buddy Guy

Talent or

superpower I

wish I had: to

make anyone who smokes quit

Least favorite chore: Cleaning my closet

(giving up past favorite clothes & shoes)

My pet peeve is: People that don’t like dogs

Favorite sports team: Cleveland Browns;

also watching all major golf tournaments

First job: File Clerk at Westfield Companies

Best advice ever received: I try to live by the

philosophy that negativity makes you ugly

inside and out

Nobody knows I: Represented the City of

Vermilion in Paimpol, France during a Twin-

ing Ceremony on behalf of the Mayor of Ver-

milion, whom I worked for at the time

Who, living or dead, would you most like

to have dinner with? Without question… my

mom

By Joyce Miller

District 3 recently completed a project

that received wide-spread attention both

in local and even national media outlets,

including the USA Today.

A call to repair a railroad crossing on

Boston Road, where four Brunswick High

School teenagers died just before their

high school graduation on June 3, 2012,

was answered by the District 3 Planning

& Engineering and Construction teams

last year, along with assistance from Cen-

tral Office and local jurisdictions.

Shortly after the crash, D-3 worked

closely with the Lorain County Engineer’s

office and provided them solar-powered

LED flash-

ing stop

signs to

install at

the rail

crossing,

where Bos-

ton Road

rose ab-

ruptly on

both sides

of the tracks (pictured below). A cooper-

ative effort to improve the roadway,

which divides Lorain County to the north

and Medina County to the south, was

undertaken by ODOT; the Lorain County

Engineer’s Office; Medina County Engi-

neer’s Office; Columbia Township Trus-

tees in Lorain County; Liverpool Town-

ship Trustees in Medina County; and the

Federal Highway Administration.

The Lorain County Engineer’s Office as

well as staff in Central Office began

working on a preliminary concept to im-

prove the roadway by slightly raising the

road to the east and west of the tracks. In

a process known as ‘design-acquire-

build,’ the project was anticipated to be

complete from its conception in one

year’s time.

The design-acquire-build (D-A-B) pro-

cess combines the design, right-of-way

acquisition, and construction phases of a

project in to one contract. This allows the

design, right-of-way acquisition, and the

construction partners to work simultane-

ously on the design and construction

phases of the project, while securing the

needed right of way. To speed up the

acquisition process, D-3 used transparent

boundaries to utilize District 2’s Realty

Specialist, Mark LaWarre, to secure the

Rights of Entry on the project. The D-A-B

process significantly reduced the amount

of time and cost that would have oc-

curred in a traditional design-bid-build

project.

On December 20, 2012, the project was

awarded to Beaver Excavating Company

for $607,900. ODOT was able to fund

90% of the project with Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) Safety funds,

which are managed by Central Office.

These funds can be used on any State or

local roadway where a safety problem

exists.

“Normally, a project of this type would

take a minimum of three years to deliver

See BOSTON ROAD on Page 3

3 The Legend—September 2013 The Legend—September 2013 2

Co-Worker &

Customer Kudos

The reality is

much of the work

that we do here at

ODOT can be quite dan-

gerous. There are things in

our work environment that

involve a certain amount of risk

outside of our control such as work-

ing alongside a busy highway crowded

with distracted motorists; however, the risk

involved when positioning your body in an awk-

ward way to lift a heavy piece of equipment is

within our control. Truthfully, we are our own worst

enemies when it comes to injuries here in the workplace.

While we can provide you with the proper personal protec-

tive equipment, and we can even train you on the proper meth-

ods to use when completing your work, I realize accidents do

happen.

The problem is, however, when I review the injury reports that

are filled out when an employee is physically hurt on the job, I

am finding that almost every injury is a direct result of careless-

ness and/or inattention by the employee himself. We cannot

let this trend continue.

Here in District 3, we have been extremely successful at re-

ducing the number of crashes we experience in ODOT vehicles.

This reduction began last year and has continued this year.

While it is important that we take care of our equipment, it is

even more important that we take care of our own physical

bodies.

The bottom line is we are still experiencing far too many

physical injuries. Yes, we are getting better, and yes, we are

experiencing fewer injuries in this district than we have in the

last five years. But the fact is we are still experiencing far more

personal injuries here in District 3 than in any other District in

the entire State of Ohio. This is simply unacceptable.

In fact, Director Wray mentioned this same thing last week

while I attended Team Up ODOT in Columbus. He feels that we

are just not achieving the reduction in injury accident results as

we should be.

If you see a fellow employee about to engage in an unsafe

activity, then you need to stop them or notify their supervisor.

If you think you will inconvenience your fellow co-worker by

asking them for help, remember that you will likely end up in-

conveniencing them even more when you are injured and on

the sidelines for weeks. If you don’t feel you are being given the

right personal protective equipment to do a job safely, then you

let your manager or our safety staff know. And most im-

portantly, if you find yourself growing careless in your attitude

toward safety, then it is time for a reality check. After all, it

could mean the difference between life and death.

Stay safe.

Al

Ashland 102

Crawford 204

Erie 51

Huron 2

Lorain 11

Medina 296

Richland 13

Wayne 67

District 72

*thru September 1

*

From

the

Dis

tric

t

Dep

uty D

irec

tor

I stopped by the completed Lake Shore Railway crossing on State Route

18 in Wellington earlier today, and from what I can see, it appears the grade crossing

work was completed successfully as well as the paving that District 3 completed last

week, which looked outstanding. I wanted to pass on my thanks to your staff on the

technical assistance provide as well as for a job well done!

-Rich Behrendt, ODOT Rail Coordinator, 8/13/13

Special thanks to: Lee Ackerman, Matt Blankenship, Othello Croskey, Cody Groesbeck

-Vollmer, Josh Hall, Aaron Honeycutt, Kim King, Mark Meister, Gary Schimmel, Troy

Shawber, Tom Keys, Kimberly Conklin, Dick Honoshofsky, Matt Walter, Tim Farley,

and Matt Dietrich from the Ohio Rail Development Commission for their partnership

with assisting a railroad by paving their approaches to a crossing in need of repairs.

Just wanted to pass along some ‘kudos’ to the ODOT team that par-

ticipated in the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival Parade. My daughter and I

attended the festival for the first time in many years. We were happy

to see ladies (Theresa Click, Becky Griffin, Melissa Guericio) driving

very shiny and immaculately clean ODOT dump trucks in the parade;

they represented ODOT well! -Sarah Johnson, Division of Chief Legal, 8/16/2013

I wanted to call and let

you know what a fan-

tastic job has been on

the SR 3 resurfacing

project (in Wayne &

Medina Counties).

When I

returned home from

work on Monday even-

ing, the work at my

driveway was complet-

ed and the contractor

(Shelly Company) did

an excellent job.

-Mike Petrie, 8/27/13

Allen (Biehl):

I just want to thank your (Medina County maintenance) crew for cleaning out our ditch yesterday. They

did a nice job, and we are pleased with the results. Please pass on to those involved. Thank you!

-Bonnie Metzger, State Route 303, Valley City, 8/29/13

Boston Road Project Continued from Page 1

from design to construction under a traditional format. To have this project see con-

struction within one year of the beginning of this collaboration, given the many public

agencies involved, is unprecedented,” District 3 Deputy Director Allen Biehl previously

said.

On June 3 of this year, Boston Road was closed for construction. During the first two

days of the closure, the contractor did not work; instead, ODOT made provision within

the contract to allow the Brunswick High School staff an opportunity to remove any ex-

isting memorials at the site, prior to construction work.

The next two months though, the contractor worked to decrease the grade of the

roadway approaching the rail crossing. On August 15, the road reopened to traffic and

has area residents pleased.

“They did a really nice job. They cleaned it up; it looks nice out here,” said Steven San-

tell, who lives on Boston Road. “This will definitely help (the safety). There’s no incline

now, so no one can get hurt.”

The completed project to improve Boston Road.

A special thank you to

all ODOT Staff

involved in making

this project a reality,

including:

Scott Turchek

Mary Durastanti

Mike Fair

Bob Weaver

Matt Blankenship

Julie Cichello

John Finch

Ron Nussbaum

Kris Rickett

Leslie Farley

Allen Biehl

CENTRAL OFFICE

Michelle May

Jennifer Townley

James Young

Darrin Walbom

Jim Barna

Mark LaWarre

District 3 was well represented at last week’s Team Up ODOT and

Director’s Cup Roadeo Event in Columbus.

Medina County’s Bill Workman (top right) and John Kwiecien par-

ticipated in the Loader competition of the Roadeo, while John also

participated in the Truck competition (pictured above hi-fiving fellow

co-worker Lori Menk).

Wayne County’s Drag Paver was a big hit of the expo event as well

with a steady stream of Highway Technicians from other counties

checking out the innovative operation (at right).

Finance's Sue Pore received a certificate signed by Director Jerry

Wray for being nominated for the TOPS Communication Award.

Central Office’s Master Planning booth also featured District 3’s

new Wayne County Full Service Maintenance Facility.

3 The Legend—September 2013 The Legend—September 2013 2

Co-Worker &

Customer Kudos

The reality is

much of the work

that we do here at

ODOT can be quite dan-

gerous. There are things in

our work environment that

involve a certain amount of risk

outside of our control such as work-

ing alongside a busy highway crowded

with distracted motorists; however, the risk

involved when positioning your body in an awk-

ward way to lift a heavy piece of equipment is

within our control. Truthfully, we are our own worst

enemies when it comes to injuries here in the workplace.

While we can provide you with the proper personal protec-

tive equipment, and we can even train you on the proper meth-

ods to use when completing your work, I realize accidents do

happen.

The problem is, however, when I review the injury reports that

are filled out when an employee is physically hurt on the job, I

am finding that almost every injury is a direct result of careless-

ness and/or inattention by the employee himself. We cannot

let this trend continue.

Here in District 3, we have been extremely successful at re-

ducing the number of crashes we experience in ODOT vehicles.

This reduction began last year and has continued this year.

While it is important that we take care of our equipment, it is

even more important that we take care of our own physical

bodies.

The bottom line is we are still experiencing far too many

physical injuries. Yes, we are getting better, and yes, we are

experiencing fewer injuries in this district than we have in the

last five years. But the fact is we are still experiencing far more

personal injuries here in District 3 than in any other District in

the entire State of Ohio. This is simply unacceptable.

In fact, Director Wray mentioned this same thing last week

while I attended Team Up ODOT in Columbus. He feels that we

are just not achieving the reduction in injury accident results as

we should be.

If you see a fellow employee about to engage in an unsafe

activity, then you need to stop them or notify their supervisor.

If you think you will inconvenience your fellow co-worker by

asking them for help, remember that you will likely end up in-

conveniencing them even more when you are injured and on

the sidelines for weeks. If you don’t feel you are being given the

right personal protective equipment to do a job safely, then you

let your manager or our safety staff know. And most im-

portantly, if you find yourself growing careless in your attitude

toward safety, then it is time for a reality check. After all, it

could mean the difference between life and death.

Stay safe.

Al

Ashland 102

Crawford 204

Erie 51

Huron 2

Lorain 11

Medina 296

Richland 13

Wayne 67

District 72

*thru September 1

*

From

the

Dis

tric

t

Dep

uty D

irec

tor

I stopped by the completed Lake Shore Railway crossing on State Route

18 in Wellington earlier today, and from what I can see, it appears the grade crossing

work was completed successfully as well as the paving that District 3 completed last

week, which looked outstanding. I wanted to pass on my thanks to your staff on the

technical assistance provide as well as for a job well done!

-Rich Behrendt, ODOT Rail Coordinator, 8/13/13

Special thanks to: Lee Ackerman, Matt Blankenship, Othello Croskey, Cody Groesbeck

-Vollmer, Josh Hall, Aaron Honeycutt, Kim King, Mark Meister, Gary Schimmel, Troy

Shawber, Tom Keys, Kimberly Conklin, Dick Honoshofsky, Matt Walter, Tim Farley,

and Matt Dietrich from the Ohio Rail Development Commission for their partnership

with assisting a railroad by paving their approaches to a crossing in need of repairs.

Just wanted to pass along some ‘kudos’ to the ODOT team that par-

ticipated in the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival Parade. My daughter and I

attended the festival for the first time in many years. We were happy

to see ladies (Theresa Click, Becky Griffin, Melissa Guericio) driving

very shiny and immaculately clean ODOT dump trucks in the parade;

they represented ODOT well! -Sarah Johnson, Division of Chief Legal, 8/16/2013

I wanted to call and let

you know what a fan-

tastic job has been on

the SR 3 resurfacing

project (in Wayne &

Medina Counties).

When I

returned home from

work on Monday even-

ing, the work at my

driveway was complet-

ed and the contractor

(Shelly Company) did

an excellent job.

-Mike Petrie, 8/27/13

Allen (Biehl):

I just want to thank your (Medina County maintenance) crew for cleaning out our ditch yesterday. They

did a nice job, and we are pleased with the results. Please pass on to those involved. Thank you!

-Bonnie Metzger, State Route 303, Valley City, 8/29/13

Boston Road Project Continued from Page 1

from design to construction under a traditional format. To have this project see con-

struction within one year of the beginning of this collaboration, given the many public

agencies involved, is unprecedented,” District 3 Deputy Director Allen Biehl previously

said.

On June 3 of this year, Boston Road was closed for construction. During the first two

days of the closure, the contractor did not work; instead, ODOT made provision within

the contract to allow the Brunswick High School staff an opportunity to remove any ex-

isting memorials at the site, prior to construction work.

The next two months though, the contractor worked to decrease the grade of the

roadway approaching the rail crossing. On August 15, the road reopened to traffic and

has area residents pleased.

“They did a really nice job. They cleaned it up; it looks nice out here,” said Steven San-

tell, who lives on Boston Road. “This will definitely help (the safety). There’s no incline

now, so no one can get hurt.”

The completed project to improve Boston Road.

A special thank you to

all ODOT Staff

involved in making

this project a reality,

including:

Scott Turchek

Mary Durastanti

Mike Fair

Bob Weaver

Matt Blankenship

Julie Cichello

John Finch

Ron Nussbaum

Kris Rickett

Leslie Farley

Allen Biehl

CENTRAL OFFICE

Michelle May

Jennifer Townley

James Young

Darrin Walbom

Jim Barna

Mark LaWarre

District 3 was well represented at last week’s Team Up ODOT and

Director’s Cup Roadeo Event in Columbus.

Medina County’s Bill Workman (top right) and John Kwiecien par-

ticipated in the Loader competition of the Roadeo, while John also

participated in the Truck competition (pictured above hi-fiving fellow

co-worker Lori Menk).

Wayne County’s Drag Paver was a big hit of the expo event as well

with a steady stream of Highway Technicians from other counties

checking out the innovative operation (at right).

Finance's Sue Pore received a certificate signed by Director Jerry

Wray for being nominated for the TOPS Communication Award.

Central Office’s Master Planning booth also featured District 3’s

new Wayne County Full Service Maintenance Facility.

4 The Legend—September 2013

District 3 Employee News

Dates to Remember

9/22 Autumn Begins

9/30 CCC Pledge Form Due

10/14 Columbus Day

(ODOT Closed)

10/16 National Boss’ Day

10/24 United Nations Day

10/31 Halloween

New Hires

Zach Brodie, Highway Technician 1 in

Wayne County.

Mike Lemmon, Highway Technician 1 in

Wayne County.

Rick Mosher, Highway Technician 1 in

Erie County.

District Office Complex Updates

The electric entry gate to the back of the

District complex has a new card reader. If

you need to enter when the gate is

closed, you must use your Employee ID

Card to access the gate. The number pad

no longer exists.

A contractor will begin replacing the roof

to the District Complex this week; no im-

pacts to employees are expected.

HT Series News

Pretesting will be held on September 17

and 24. Classes in the HT Academy are

being scheduled soon. Please be sure to

check your emails for notices of classes.

Combined Charitable Campaign

The 2013 State of Ohio Combined Chari-

table Campaign is officially underway.

Soon, you will receive a pre-printed

pledge card if you choose to donate to

your favorite charity through the CCC.

This year, you could win a day off with

pay by pledging a donation with the

CCC. Turn in your completed pledge

form to Christine Myers by September 30

to be entered in to the drawing. One

winner will be chosen in District 3.

John R. Kasich

Governor

Jerry Wray

Director

Allen C. Biehl, P.E.

District Deputy Director

September 2013

What’s inside…

DDD Corner

Customer Kudos

Mentorship Program

Getting to know…

From Concept to Completion in One Year: Boston Road project true example of teamwork

The Legend District 3 Employee Newsletter

In this month’s banner:

Construction crews put

finishing touches on the

Boston Road project

Get to know…

Judy Plato Judy Plato is the Administrative Assistant to

DDD Allen Biehl and has worked at ODOT for

nearly four years. Previously, Judy worked for

the International Bowhunting Organization

and the City of Vermilion. “Judy is someone I

can trust completely to get any job done,”

said DDD Biehl. “She is a reliable source of

information and a hard-worker. Judy takes

the majority of inquiries in to my office, and

she has this great ability to build an immedi-

ate rapport with even the most dissatisfied

customers. I’m glad she is part of my team.”

Family: Husband, Erik

Pets: Gigi, our Bassett Hound

Hobbies: Golf and trying to train Gigi; if you

ask my husband, he would say ‘shopping.’

Favorite Book: Knight in Shining Armor by

Jude Deveraux

Favorite TV show: Blue Bloods, and anything

starting with ‘The Real Housewives

of…’ (shame on me)

Favorite movie (s): To Kill a Mockingbird;

Moonstruck; Pride & Prejudice; You’ve Got

Mail (in that order)

Favorite restaurant: Diso’s Bistro—Lorain’s

best kept secret

Favorite vacation spot: Any great golf resort

The best CD album is: Anything and every-

thing by Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and Joe

Bonamassa (I

love the

sweet sound

of a blues

guitar)

Ringtone on

my cellphone

is: Every time

I sing the

Blues, by

Buddy Guy

Talent or

superpower I

wish I had: to

make anyone who smokes quit

Least favorite chore: Cleaning my closet

(giving up past favorite clothes & shoes)

My pet peeve is: People that don’t like dogs

Favorite sports team: Cleveland Browns;

also watching all major golf tournaments

First job: File Clerk at Westfield Companies

Best advice ever received: I try to live by the

philosophy that negativity makes you ugly

inside and out

Nobody knows I: Represented the City of

Vermilion in Paimpol, France during a Twin-

ing Ceremony on behalf of the Mayor of Ver-

milion, whom I worked for at the time

Who, living or dead, would you most like

to have dinner with? Without question… my

mom

By Joyce Miller

District 3 recently completed a project

that received wide-spread attention both

in local and even national media outlets,

including the USA Today.

A call to repair a railroad crossing on

Boston Road, where four Brunswick High

School teenagers died just before their

high school graduation on June 3, 2012,

was answered by the District 3 Planning

& Engineering and Construction teams

last year, along with assistance from Cen-

tral Office and local jurisdictions.

Shortly after the crash, D-3 worked

closely with the Lorain County Engineer’s

office and provided them solar-powered

LED flash-

ing stop

signs to

install at

the rail

crossing,

where Bos-

ton Road

rose ab-

ruptly on

both sides

of the tracks (pictured below). A cooper-

ative effort to improve the roadway,

which divides Lorain County to the north

and Medina County to the south, was

undertaken by ODOT; the Lorain County

Engineer’s Office; Medina County Engi-

neer’s Office; Columbia Township Trus-

tees in Lorain County; Liverpool Town-

ship Trustees in Medina County; and the

Federal Highway Administration.

The Lorain County Engineer’s Office as

well as staff in Central Office began

working on a preliminary concept to im-

prove the roadway by slightly raising the

road to the east and west of the tracks. In

a process known as ‘design-acquire-

build,’ the project was anticipated to be

complete from its conception in one

year’s time.

The design-acquire-build (D-A-B) pro-

cess combines the design, right-of-way

acquisition, and construction phases of a

project in to one contract. This allows the

design, right-of-way acquisition, and the

construction partners to work simultane-

ously on the design and construction

phases of the project, while securing the

needed right of way. To speed up the

acquisition process, D-3 used transparent

boundaries to utilize District 2’s Realty

Specialist, Mark LaWarre, to secure the

Rights of Entry on the project. The D-A-B

process significantly reduced the amount

of time and cost that would have oc-

curred in a traditional design-bid-build

project.

On December 20, 2012, the project was

awarded to Beaver Excavating Company

for $607,900. ODOT was able to fund

90% of the project with Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) Safety funds,

which are managed by Central Office.

These funds can be used on any State or

local roadway where a safety problem

exists.

“Normally, a project of this type would

take a minimum of three years to deliver

See BOSTON ROAD on Page 3