ITD Director Brian Ness told lawmakers this morning that looking ahead, “The key to maintaining Idaho’s infrastructure is to provide a sound, stable funding source. The key to investing that money wisely is to constantly improve our operations and effectiveness at ITD.”

He said in the past seven years, “We made promises, and we kept them. We realigned the department, we removed layers of management, and we improved our effectiveness.” In 2015, ITD won 53 state, regional and national awards for excellence and innovation.

 Half of ITD’s workforce will reach retirement age within the next five years, Ness said, so the department is working on “a staffing plan for the next quarter-century,” focused on innovation and technology. That won’t always mean more workers, he said, and sometimes means less. “When I first arrived at ITD, the highways were clear 28 percent of the time during storms. Now they are clear 77 percent of the time during storms. This is just one example of how we use technology to improve safety and mobility on the highways.”

Among the changes: Snowplows now “look like an airline cockpit” inside, he said. Survey crews that 30 years ago typically involved seven members now need just one or two.

Ness said ITD has three measures that it uses to select projects, in order: Safety, mobility, and economic growth and opportunity. “You will see us provide Idahoans with the best return on their investment dollars,” he said.