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LOCAL ROADS TRAINING PROGRAM
1991-1992
By WILLIAM T. SUNLEY, Engineer of Local Roads and Streets
Credits to: Dennis Whitehead, Local Program Evaluation Engineer.
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Another Local Roads and Streets training season is
fast approaching and our training brochure is nearing
completion. Our 1991-1992 brochure details all of our
tuition-free courses and will be mailed in August to all
municipal engineers, directors of public works, and
county superintendents of highways. In municipalities
where no engineering department exists, the municipal
clerks will also receive copies. New for this year, our
brochure will be included on the Local Roads and
Streets Electronic Bulletin Board System (BBS). Also
new for this year, you will have the option of being able
to enroll in our classes by utilizing our BBS. To utilize
this system, dial 217-524-5330. If you are not familiar
with BBSs, you may request a BBS Manual by writing to
the Illinois Department of Transportation, Engineer of
Local Roads and Streets, Attention: Brad Smrcina, 2300
South Dirksen Parkway, Room 200C, Springfield, Illinois 62764.
Our curriculum contains the same classes as last year
with additional presentations of the more popular
classes. One of these is the Detention Basin Design
class. This class is normally only offered every other
year, but last year's demand was so large that we are
offering it again this year. Bituminous and Portland
Cement Concrete Proportioning and Testing classes
are being offered both in Springfield and Schaumburg
this year. An additional Documentation class will be
offered in Peoria, and an additional Pavement Maintenance class will be offered in Mt. Vernon.
Several additional classes are being offered this
year. Four classes of our Snow Removal and Ice Control are being offered throughout the State, including
Glen Ellyn, Peoria, and Collinsville. For these classes to
be more valuable to the students attending, we are
planning on having snow plow equipment on display at
the locations of these classes. For your own agency's
training purposes, the four part video tape from this
class can be obtained from our Training Unit upon
request. Three presentations of our new class. Rehabilitating Low Volume Roads, will be offered. This class
provides a "hands on" perspective on rehabilitating
existing flexible roads. In Springfield this year, we are
also offering two computer software classes on the
basics of Data Ease and Lotus 1-2-3. This year we are
offering several classes in Schaumburg and Springfield
of the IDOT's new Certified Flaggers class. This is a
half-day class where work zone safety is stressed.
IDOT has completely packaged this class so that any
approved organization will be able to conduct their
own classes of this training.
Our brochure includes the dates of our classes, their
locations, descriptions, and the prerequisites we feel
necessary. We request that these prerequisites be considered when enrolling people in our classes. Our instruction is geared toward students having the necessary skills listed in our brochure. Our instructors are not
able to take the time necessary to cover any extra material in addition to the subject matter they are covering.
Students without the appropriate skills will not be able
August 1991 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11
to gain as much from these classes. A "no cost" self-
study math refresher course that we highly recommend
is available upon request. Also, students should be familiar with their calculators before attending classes
where their use is required.
The enrollment form is included in our brochure.
We request that you return this form to us at your
earliest convenience, so that we may be able to locate
larger facilities or add more classes if enrollment warrants. This year we have added more classes to allow
everyone who requests a class, to be able to attend it.
For those classes where enrollment is greater than we
can accommodate, we may have to ask that enrollment
be restricted to one student per agency so that each
agency enrolled will be able to participate. At the same
time, a minimum of 20 enrollees is normally required in
order to warrant having a class.
One of the goals of the Bureau of Local Roads and
Streets Training Unit is to be sensitive to your training
needs. We want to supply you with the training classes
that you want and need. We are interested in any new
courses you would like added and any locations where
you feel we could have well attended classes. We are
receptive to any ideas and suggestions you have that
would modify or improve our existing courses to better
fulfill your needs. Also, we are especially interested in
anyone willing to help teach in our classes. We are
particularly interested in people who could help us in
topics that we have no classes for now. A primary goal
of our program has always been to utilize individuals
with "hands on" expertise to help teach our classes. We
feel that this approach provides classes that are well
balanced and more useful to all agencies. Any input,
ideas, or potential volunteers should be directed to the
Illinois Department of Transportation, Engineer of Local Roads and Streets, Attention: Training Unit, 2300
South Dirksen Parkway, Room 210, Springfield, Illinois
62764.
We are looking forward to another training season.
We hope that this year you will find courses that will
help fulfill your agency's training needs. •
Page 12 / Illinois Municipal Review / August 1991