MEMORANDUM
To: Traffic Incident Management Committee and Interested Parties From: Jamel Torres – SMPDC Transportation & Land Use Planner Date: May 23, 2016 RE: ME-NH Traffic Incident Management Committee Meeting Notes
Location: Portsmouth Fire Station 2 Date: May 20, 2016 12:00 p.m.
Those in attendance included: Hugh Cox (MaineDOT), Wayne Emington (FHWA), James Heinz (Portsmouth Fire Department), Chris Balentine (York Fire Department), Erik Baker (Maine State Police), Kevin Donovan (I-95 Corridor Coalition), Greg Stone (Maine Turnpike Authority), Mark Kirouac (NHDOT), Jeff Rowe (Kennebunk Fire & Rescue Department), Jay Byron (Kennebunk Fire & Rescue Department), Tim Hamilton (Maine Department of Public Safety / Dispatch – Gray), Jamel Torres (SMPDC), Tom Reinauer (SMPDC)
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Review of recent incidents Erik Baker spoke about a fatal crash just south of mile 19 southbound on the Maine Turnpike. Details below: o Feds are looking at the vehicle for damages and clues into what happened o The National Transportation Safety Board became involved because an 11- month old died during the crash. This is abnormal for them to be involved, but since the incident involved such a young person they became involved o Vehicle was traveling around 70 mph o Very heavy rain that day o Looking at whether weather, tires, and / or distracted driving may have contributed o Child / baby in vehicle was strapped in correctly but died from severe head trauma o Lt. Baker also reminded everyone that if it is a fatal crash, always assume that it will become a criminal case and tell responders / onlookers to leave the vehicle and scene alone so the proper authorities can proceed with the investigation o Greg Stone from MTA noted that the turnpike’s guardrails worked properly during the incident
Traffic Incident Management Committee Meeting Notes Page 1 o Jay Bryon mentioned that everyone worked very well together during the incident, and the TIM process has definitely helped. The coordination is much better than it was prior to the TIM meetings and discussions.
3. Upcoming planned events Greg Stone from MTA discussed ongoing / upcoming projects along the turnpike: o In a week or so MTA will be transitioning the Falmouth Spur toll plaza into a highway-speed toll o By the end of the summer the West Gardiner toll will also become a highway-speed toll o MTA is building a new interchange at exit 63 (Gray). It is in dire need of an upgrade. New traffic patterns as a result. o Paving north of Gray this year o Looking into the future, the Portland turnpike widening will be taking place before 2020. Some bridges will need to be worked on. This will take place between exits 44 and 48 for now and may extend to the Falmouth Spur in the future. The project should be completed by 2020. o Looking into constructing some concrete barrier sections in the center median between Kittery and Portland. o The York Tollbooth project is currently in the permitting phase Tom reminded the group that the Sarah Long Bridge construction is still on schedule. The bridge will be closed between October 2016 – November 2017. MaineDOT will be creating detour routes during the closure. Tom hopes they will reach out to Kittery / Portsmouth to get their input on the detours and signage.
4. Performance Measures a. Review of recent report – First Quarter 2016 o Jamel Torres noted the new graphs / charts in the report. These include pie charts for the clearance and notification times along with the number of secondary crashes and fire dept / EMS call-backs on the Maine Turnpike. NH has not started recording this data. o Mark Kirouac passed around a NH report that they created primarily for I-93 o Mark Kirouac also mentioned that secondary crashes and call-backs are not on the police report paperwork which is why they aren’t in this quarter’s report o Tom Reinauer spoke on the new charts on average times for incident / roadway clearance times. Other states are doing this so we
Traffic Incident Management Committee Meeting Notes Page 2 figured we would give it a shot. He mentioned that SMPDC is planning on adding this data into the future reports. o Greg Stone noted that Maine and NH are different than other states and that we should be comparing our trends with our own trends to be most useful (compared to data from other states)
b. Clearance time goals, examples from other States o Tom Reinauer introduced the research we did on other states and their goals for clearance times o Tom also mentioned how some other states told us that it is not worth it or not working well within their own agencies o Mark Kirouac mentioned that these are not meant to decrease roadway clearance time but rather they are a result of reporting. He said that the State’s data should not be included in this report / research. o Wayne Emington noted that there has recently been a rule-making that was posted to the federal register about performance of the federal highway system. He mentioned that it is only a proposed rule currently and he referred the group to the federal register to make comments / suggestions. This rule will affect all states in the US. Asking folks to report congestion in each State. The federal highway system is broken up into small segments and the idea is to report congestion within these sections.
5. Discussion of wrong-way driving incidents of I-95 & I-295 Tom Reinauer received some information from the Bangor Incident Management group and State Police Troop E. He went over some data about wrong-way driving incidents up in their area. There was a total of 32 on both I-95 and I-395 in the Bangor area between November of 2014 and November of 2015. Tom also noted that there were 27 in 2015 on the Maine Turnpike. A possible next step would be to map each specific incident and see if there are any clusters of wrong-way incidents or other noteworthy trends. Greg Stone from MTA noted that the turnpike is installing infrastructure to make wrong-way incidents more difficult. The MaineDOT is doing the same. Ongoing review and concern for both agencies. The MaineDOT has installed flashing beacons at an interchange in Freeport for drivers going the wrong-way on an I-295 interstate ramp. Tom Reinauer mentioned that he has looked at other states and what they are doing to alleviate these incidents. He has reports from three different states if anyone is interested in reviewing
6. TIM Training update
Traffic Incident Management Committee Meeting Notes Page 3 Tom Reinauer, Kevin Donovan, and Mary McElman put on a 4-hour TIM training course at the Cumberland County Regional Communications Center. 17 attendees. 2 Sheriffs. 1 State Police Trooper from Troop C. A lot of towing folks. A lot of folks from the Lakes region and the RCC Trying to schedule another class in the Lakes Regions area on June 16 Train the Trainer course is scheduled for June 16 & 17 in Bangor. Tom passed around some flyers for this to the group. Wayne Emington noted that most people registered for this are either from the Bar Harbor or Central Maine areas. Wayne also noted that we are very close to 10% of folks trained on TIM. National goal is 20%. Eventual goal is to get to 100% statewide / nationwide. Still trying to get TIM training into the State Fire & Police Academies. NH has incorporated the training into theirs.
7. Staff updates None
8. Agency and Department reports Kevin Donovan has a call with Denis Markow at NHDOT to try and get a regional New England meeting together with the highway operations group. The purpose of the meeting will be to talk about regional concerns (not just TIM). June 7-8 is the New England Transportation Safety Conference. It is in Worcester this year.
9. Next meeting date & Agenda Items July 22, 2016, noon-2pm, York Village Fire Station
Traffic Incident Management Committee Meeting Notes Page 4