Vermont Agency of Transportation

Our Director of Administration, Jayna Morse, is participating in the second annual AASHTO Safety Summit today, showcasing our agency advancements in employee safety and bringing back lessons learned from other state DOTs on embedding safety in policy, legislation and funding decisions.

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT Meet Liz Beebe, our Occupational Safety and Health Manager! Liz oversees the Agency’s Employee Safety Program, which protects 1,300 workers throughout Vermont in a variety of environments and facilities. In a high-risk industry where workers cannot always control their environments, Liz and the safety team establish reasonable guidance that is innovative and financially responsible, while building a safety culture where employees feel empowered to speak up about concerns to get resolutions. Liz joined AOT as a Safety Technician in January 2019 and worked on compliance programs and engaging with employees to learn about their safety needs. During the COVID pandemic, Liz and her team were a part of the State’s emergency response and delivered vaccines and personal protective equipment to healthcare facilities and assisted with food distribution and COVID test kit distribution for communities. “The incredible people who work here at AOT serve their communities in so many more ways than the public realizes,” Liz said. “Every day, our folks go above and beyond, and I am proud to be a part of that.” In January 2022, Liz was promoted to Occupational Safety and Health Manager. Throughout the Agency, Liz herself is known for going way above and beyond to keep our employees safe – and she always does it with heart, energy, and great expertise. Outside of work, Liz’s great passion is her flower garden, where she can be found most evenings rolling around in the dirt with her dogs and kids. #spotlight #employeesafety #safety #leadership #transportation #occupationalsafety #VTrans #vermont #agencyoftransportation

September Highlight! AOT’s 2024 Research and Innovation Symposium was held yesterday in Barre with more than 120 people in attendance. Our eighth annual Symposium, which also serves as our State Transportation Innovation Council (STIC) Collaborators and Partners Event, featured 24 projects funded by AOT sources and other partners. Each project has a Vermont impact as described on each project page. Learn more on our website about the projects and view recordings of the sessions, including the Plenary Session featuring Innovation Culture: https://lnkd.in/eA4KiVQ7 AOT would like to thank everyone who presented and participated. We applaud our Research team, Emily Parkany and Ashlie Mercado, for their outstanding work on the Symposium and their ongoing efforts throughout the year to ensure that research helps to drive our Agency’s work to maintain, expand, and improve Vermont’s transportation infrastructure.

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Yesterday at our Dill Building in Berlin, Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn and Chief Engineer Jeremy Reed were presented with $800,000 in federal funding secured by Congresswoman Becca Balint to replace an outdated culvert in Lowell on Vermont Route 100, one of the key north-south highways that links the Northeast Kingdom with Central Vermont. The new culvert will greatly reduce the possibility of a major, unplanned closure that could significantly affect residents and businesses across this region due to the limited number of detour options. This culvert dates back to 1948 and is one of thousands of old, outdated culverts installed during the Eisenhower Interstate era of the 1960s and 1970s that are susceptible to failure, resulting in significant community disruption. If this culvert in Lowell were to fail, an emergency closure would require a detour of 27 miles for area residents, visitors, truck freight, and public transportation and also place pressure on local roadways. The new 15-foot-wide culvert will replace three 6-foot-wide culverts. Work is excepted to begin next summer and be completed by next fall. This federal funding was secured by Rep. Balint as one of 15 Community Funding Projects across Vermont in the 2024 fiscal year.

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Check out this #opportunity at AOT! Are you a leader with experience navigating disaster response, overseeing hazardous materials or occupational safety programs at a statewide level, or working with disadvantaged populations? We'd like to discuss this position with you!

AOT and VERMONT DEPT FISH & WILDLIFE have been collaborating for years to expand and improve #wildlifecrossings in critical areas throughout the state. AOT and F&W work closely together to consider the needs of wildlife movement and habitat #connectivity in planning and project delivery. AOT supported the design and construction of the Monkton Salamander Crossing project through the Transportation Alternatives Program, which has a funding category for wildlife crossings. This crossing has been a great success to ensure safe crossing for the intended creatures as well as for others, including a bear recently caught on camera making safe passage through the tunnel under Monkton Road in Monkton, VT.

We're excited to share this recruitment opportunity! Check it out below.

Two future leaders Philip Peloquin and Paul Libby recently attended the AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) Leadership Institute. AOT celebrates the initiative our employees take to advance their careers and build connections across the nation. Paul shared, "The AASHTO Leadership Institute (ALI) conference in Lawrence KS was a terrific combination of engaging conversation from world class professionals, mixed with industry expert presentations on some emerging topics in Transportation such as AI. There was also a strong focus on developing, managing, and learning about staff and self-strategies to maximize the potential within us; while learning the difference between activity and productivity. This gathering brought together amazing professionals from across the United States into a setting of collaboration and meaningful networking discussions. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and would recommend it to others." #AASHTO #leadership #transportation