Government Works

The WSDOT intranet had the following article posted to it yesterday. I decided to share it with the blogdom. FYI, Doug MacDonald is the Washington state secretary of transportation.

One of your department staff saved my life today...
Posted 05.16.06

E-mail sent to Doug MacDonald
(sent May 11, 2006)

One of your Department staff saved my life today and I wanted to say thanks.

I was driving south on 1-5 near MP 221 when a car in the northbound lanes bumped another car, lost control, swerved, flipped, and slid down the highway on its roof. It was headed directly for my vehicle when 3 small cables stopped it, and sent it skidding down its own lane. After we were all done getting the driver out, directing traffic, talking to the police, and shaking- I looked at the barrier. A couple of the posts were pulled loose, but they had not pulled out even when hit at high speed by a sliding car.

So who do I thank? The folks who pushed for a budget to install the barrier? The engineer who designed it? The project manager who inspected the work to make sure it was done right? The man or woman who dug the hole to the right depth, and put the pole and cable in the right way to stop the car? I don't know- so I wanted to say thanks to all of you for saving my life today. You make a difference, and I wanted you to know it.

Respectfully,

Scott Seibert,
Portland, Oregon

E-mail response from Doug MacDonald

This is a very special message for us. Of course, the best of it is knowing how important it is that you can send it. We're glad, too, that the cable median barrier did its job and the amazing thing is that you are not alone. It saves lives, and not just yours! (But none more important!)

Cable median barrier is something of an innovation. It's not exactly brand new. But it wasn't in highway department's tool kit just a few short years ago. Because you have special reason to be interested, two of the cc's on this email, Dick Albin and Dave McCormick (the actual people who are in the category of engineers you mention in your email) will send you some more information about how the whole deal works.

You were right, however, to surmise that more than an engineering decision has to be made if highway safety improvements like this are to be installed. Budgets do have to be passed, and cable median barrier made its way through our 2005 legislative session with a special project designation supported by the leadership of our Transportation Committees because of interest in and belief in the program. Here's the link that describes the program on which we are now working across the state. (This link is for Whatcom County, but the message is the same statewide)

httg://www. wsdot. wa.gov/Projects/CableBarrier/

The further detail that will surely catch your fancy is that last summer, when Initiative 912 threatened to cut back funding levels that had been approved in 2005, we faced very difficult choices about what to try to keep moving ahead and what to put on ice awaiting funding clarification. Governor Gregoire personally reviewed the cable median barrier installation project and personally directed that it proceed --because we told her and she agreed that it was about saving lives. So, you can include the archetypal "highest level of government" as personally involved in the decision process. What really ties this story together, if I heard rightly last week when I think your situation occurred, this accident and its thankfully happy outcome for you, happened on a stretch of 1-5 on which the barrier was recently installed precisely because of the Governor's own decision, and of course the supporting work of everyone
else you yourself have mentioned.

So let's score one for "Government Works." Nothing could give us more satisfaction, since this every day is what we try to do, than to have your email to complete the story. I'll forward it to as many people as I can think of who are in your circle of recognition. I know they will appreciate that you have written. And that you could!

Ok, maybe the government works bit only applies to this situation, but it did work in this instance.