Happy Thanksgiving!

We want to wish our readers a happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!  If you're traveling, please be safe.

Click here to see some travel tips for Kansas.  And if you're flying this year, here's a great place to find out if there are significant delays at an airport.

How has transportation evolved over the last 100 years?

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), is celebrating its 100th year. Over the past century AASHTO and its member departments of transportation in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have benefited from the strong partnerships forged in both the public and private sectors. This commemorative video takes viewers on journey –highlighting the many people, partnerships and historic events that make up AASHTO’s century of achievement for a better tomorrow.

New I-235 & 13th Street interchange opens in Wichita

 The ribbon was cut on Friday, November 21 to officially open the new I-235 and 13^th Street Interchange in west Wichita. The $35 million project adds two new bridges over the Wichita – Valley Center Floodway and provides access to I-235 in two directions: eastbound 13^th St. to southbound I-235 and northbound I-235 to westbound 13^th St.

The traffic improvement project also includes upgrades to adjacent city streets plus a new entrance to the nearby Sedgwick County Park. The project began in November 2012 and was completed on schedule and on budget. The City of Wichita designed and financed the project; KDOT’s Wichita West Construction office handled administration and inspection.

Western New York snow removal

Some areas of New York state along the Great Lakes had around 2 feet  of new snow on Thursday on top of accumulations as deep as 5 feet from earlier in the week.

The National Weather Service said parts of the region could expect 3 feet more snow before skies clear on Friday.

It's the worst storm that most New Yorkers have ever experienced.  At least 10 deaths have been associated with the storm. We are keeping the residents and snow removal crews in our thoughts as they continue to battle the storm.

As you would expect this is requiring a massive snow removal effort.  Here are some tweets that give you insight into what the situation is like.

 

Throwback Thursday

We're going back to November 14, 1956, when Kansas completed the first section of the interstate on U.S. 40 now I-70.  There is some discrepancy between three states Kansas, Pennsylvania and Missouri about which state is actually first.  According to Kansas Gov. Fred Hall, who participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the new road, this section was the "first project in the United States completed under the provisions of the new Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956."

Wednesday's Words

 "We have the technology to do it, but I don't think we have the vision to do it," said University of Washington-Bothell professor Tyler Folsom.


The Washington DOT says driverless cars could be a way of fixing disastrous commutes.  These cars could reduce accidents caused by distracted drivers. And there could be improved efficiencies as well.

"You really could push a lot of vehicles through and they all brake in advance of an incident and accelerate at the same time, you didn't have that stop and go. Theoretically, yeah, it's great stuff," said Mark Leth, WSDOT engineer.

To learn more, click here.

Tuesday Trivia

Are more Americans commuting to work by car now than they did in 2000?

No.  Nationwide, the percentage of workers who commute by car declined from 88 percent in 2000 to 86 percent in 2010-2013, according to a Stateline analysis of census numbers.  Car commuting percentages were down dramatically in some urban areas, but also in smaller Western towns that are making a focused effort to promote alternatives.

Which city had the biggest decrease in commuting?
Washington D.C.
New York City
Los Angeles

The District of Columbia decreased the number of commuters by 11 percent over the last 14 years.

Experts attribute these decreases to a number of reasons. For example, some workers are wanting to save money by not owning cars. Younger workers are more likely to have environmental concerns about car pollution and are more likely to want to walk/bike to work.