May/June 2017

4 American Traffic Safety Services Association MIDYEAR MEETING ATSSA’s 2017 Midyear Meeting highlights This year ATSSA’s highly anticipated Midyear Meeting will be held from August 23 to 25 in Louisville, Kentucky. About 200 industry participants are expected to attend the annual event. ATSSA members will convene at the Louisville Marriott Downtown Hotel, where committees and councils will meet to initiate and shape policy, examine and work to solve key issues regarding roadway safety and infrastructure and share personal knowledge and expertise with peers among other items of business. “Our members have years of experience developing and deploying infrastructure safety devices. It’s important that they provide guidance to the association as we move toward our goal of Toward Zero Deaths,” ATSSA’s President and CEO, Roger Wentz, said. “ATSSA’s committee structure provides a great opportunity for members to do just that. Plus, the opportunity to network with other experienced professionals is invaluable. We are a member driven organization. ATSSA members should attend, participate and help set the direction for the future of our industry.” Throughout the year, hundreds of individuals serve on ATSSA committees, councils or task forces and together, they become the driving force that pushes the association to be a leader in the roadway safety industry. The Midyear Meeting brings all of those committee members together in one location. “ATSSA’s Midyear Meeting is a great opportunity for our members to accomplish a multitude of industry related issues within their respective committees,” said ATSSA’s Director of Communications, James Baron. “In addition to fantastic networking opportunities that occur at the Midyear, all ATSSA members should consider serving as volunteers on committees of interest to them and their businesses, if they haven’t already done so. This enables ATSSA to speak with one clear, experienced voice on those important key issues that face our industry.” There are a few key issues that committees are looking to readdress at Midyear, or have continued to prioritize in the days leading up to the meeting. The Member Engagement Committee sent out an affinity survey in April, according to ATSSA’s Director of Member Engagement, Rita Rose. The committee plans to review the member responses at Midyear to determine which affinity programs to research moving forward. Also, at the ATSSA Convention and Traffic Expo, the Temporary Traffic Control (TTC) made “a motion to approve a letter to be sent to both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to formally establish the “category” framework for roadside hardware crash-worthy eligibility: Categories 1 through 4,” according to the Operating Committee Meeting Summary. The letter will stress the necessity “for the continuation of the guidance function for industry so that crash testing is done properly,” and requests to reinstate the five categories of devices, which were previously included in the NCHRP-350, which was replaced by MASH and contains no device categories. The letter was brought to the ATSSA Board of Directors, who approved the letters be sent to the FHWA and AASHTO. The board also gave its approval to send a letter to state DOTs requesting the departments include Sign Management Programs into an overall Asset Management Plan. The board made its decision following a motion by the Sign Committee to send the letter. The Pavement Marking, TTC, Manufacturers and Suppliers and Government Relations committees approved comments to the docket on the Maintaining Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity Supplemental Notice of Proposed Amendments (SNPA). Those comments were approved by the ATSSA board and submitted to the docket in April. Additionally, the Pavement Marking Committee will address updates on four- inch and six-inch pavement marking studies at Midyear.  