LOCAL ROADS TRAINING PROGRAM "1992-1993" By WILLIAM T. SUNLEY, Engineer of Local Roads and Streets

Another Local Roads and Streets training season is fast approaching and our training brochure is nearing completion. Our 1992-1993 brochure details all of our tuition-free courses and will be mailed in August to all municipal engineers, directors of public works, and county engineers. In municipalities where no engineering department exists, the municipal clerks will also receive copies. Again this year there will be three different methods available for enrolling in classes. Your enrollment form may either be mailed or FAXed to us. You may also register through the Local Roads and Streets Electronic Bulletin Board System (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 Engineer of Local Roads and Streets, Illinois Department of Transportation, 2300 South Dirksen Parkway, Room 200 C, Attention Brad Smrcina, Springfield, IL 62764.

This year's curriculum contains many of the same classes as last year, with additional presentations of the more popular classes. Flagger Certification and Snow Removal and Ice Control classes will be held in several locations throughout the state. Standard Earth Density, Bituminous Proportioning, and Portland Cement Concrete Proportioning classes are being offered both in Springfield and Schaumburg. An additional Documentation class will be offered in Peoria.

Several new classes are being offered this year. Four new computer classes are being offered in Springfield. There will be advanced classes in both DataBase and Lotus 1, 2, 3. A general computer class, an Introduction to DOS, will be offered, and a class has been added to the MFT Accounting Package. A new class on Work Zone Safety for Projects will be offered throughout the state. The class, Jurisdictional Transfers, has been developed which discusses highway Jurisdictional matters. A one day seminar on Rehabilitating Urban Streets is being offered in Glen Ellyn. This seminar has been designed so that different rehabilitations techniques will be discussed in information sharing sessions.

Several classes have been revised this year. We have changed the surveying classes so we can better serve your individual needs. Construction Staking has been limited to discussing only construction staking techniques. A new one day class, Maintenance Surveying, has been added which will teach basic leveling and measuring techniques. A one day class, Mapping, has been developed that discusses the useage of maps in highway applications. The Pavement Construction Inspection class has been divided so that students may attend either the flexible pavement portion, or the rigid portion, or both.

Our brochure includes the dates of the classes, their locations, descriptions, and the prerequisites we feel necessary. We request that these prerequisites be considered when enrolling people in classes. A "no cost" self-study math refresher course that we recommend is available upon request.

We request that you fill out and return the enrollment form that is included in the brochure at your earliest convenience. This will enable us to locate larger facilities or add more classes if the enrollment warrants. For those classes where enrollment is greater than we can accommodate, we may have to ask that enrollment will 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.

August 1992 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 17

Last year the training program was expanded to include the copying of training videos. This new function was an enormous success in that we made hundreds of copies of videos for local agencies. It took quite some time to accommodate everyone, but we are now in the process of expanding this program.

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 and videos that you want and need. We are interested in any new courses you would like added, any improvements you would like to see made to existing classes, any locations where you feel we could have a well attended class, and any subjects you would like to have a video on. Also, we are especially interested in anyone willing to help teach in our classes. We try to provide instructors that have "hands on" expertise. We feel that this approach provides classes that are well balanced and more useful to all agencies. Last year DuPage, Madison, and Peoria counties provided instructors who shared the local viewpoint in our Snow Removal and Ice Control classes. We appreciate their contribution to the program. Any input, ideas, or potential volunteers should be directed to the Engineer of Local Roads and Streets, Illinois Department of Transportation, 2300 South Dirksen Parkway, Room 210, Attention: Training Unit, Springfield, IL 62764.

We are looking forward to another training season. We hope that this year you will find courses that will help fulfill your agencys' training needs. •

News items and photographs of interest indicating new developments and progress in your municipality are always of interest to our readers. You are urged to send such information to the ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL REVIEW for publication. Be sure your information is complete. All photographs should be black and white glossy prints. —Editor

Page 18 / Illinois Municipal Review / August 1992