WTI Center: Montana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP)

Montana LTAP Hits the Ground Running

Posted on July 10th, 2023

Montana LTAP has been hitting the roads hard this summer. Director Matt Ulberg and Field Trainer Shawna Page have conducted a variety of trainings in Lewistown, Miles City, Bozeman, Sidney, Billings, Boulder, Kalispell, and Cutbank to name a few. They’ve also hosted classes at four Montana colleges, on the Rocky Boy, North Cheyenne, Crow, and Blackfoot Reservations, and trained Yellowstone National Park road crews.

The annual Snow Rodeo is coming up fast in September. The two events, in Sidney and Missoula, MT, will accommodate up to 80 total competitors.  After a one-day safety training, attendees will hone their skills in multiple areas: backhoe, loader, grader, and snowplow use; diagnostics; and the dreaded written exam.

Flagger training has been particularly popular this year. Not only counties, but fire departments, have requested the class. Fire departments want their employees to be comfortable managing traffic around vehicle crashes. According to Shawna, “once one department gets training, then all the neighboring departments realize they need it too.”  Matt agreed and added that flagging is a foundational skillset for first responders that needs to be emphasized.  The Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) is a leader in training for hazards in the incident management space. Their Transportation Incident Management (TIM) trainings are available online at https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/tim/training.

Matt and Shawna will also teach Flagger training at the annual Montana Tow Truck Association conference in September and help plan and implement the Montana Association of County Road Supervisors (MACRS) Annual conference, where they will present the annual Montana LTAP Road scholar awards. “We had a record number of both Road Master (63) and Road Scholars (52) this year,” noted Shawna. “Some of them were only one class away from completing the program, so we worked hard to get them over the finish line. We even taught a couple of one-on-one classes so that they could finish.”

Montana LTAP classes aren’t limited to Flagger training. Shawna and Matt have the ability to teach more than 80 different courses, including 24-hour New Miner: Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) Part 46, OSHA 30, Fall Protection, Trenching and Excavation Safety, and Confined Spaces and many more. They will also provide instruction on specific sections of those classes upon request. Page has been providing LTAP trainings for over seven years and travels all year across the state of Montana, driving an average of 50,000 miles per year to reach remote counties that need assistance. To date, LTAP has already reached a wide audience in 2023 – teaching 42 classes to 704 students. “I love my job and I try really hard to offer high-quality and entertaining classes,” said Page. “I hate death by PowerPoint, and I don’t want that for my students. I’ve gotten letters from folks months later, saying ‘I took your class, got a job, and I’m making my own money for the first time,’ which is pretty cool.”

MT LTAP is also collecting Build a Better Mousetrap ideas for the annual submission to FHWA. Matt accepts ideas year-round and will include them in the next annual submission.  Ideally, a City or County roadway agency submits creative shop-built innovations or field procedures and include pictures and descriptions if possible. Also, LTAP solicits photos from the field to include in the presentations they offer.  LTAP’s community of Local Agencies (our Locals) have consistently provided great roadway photos for inclusion in LTAP materials.

LTAP can help with any technical assistance needs including on-site project reviews, assistance with navigating federal funding applications, specific trainings, process evaluations, or working with individuals that need one-on-one time to get up to speed on their skills. “Whatever your needs are, LTAP is going to help you meet them,” says Shawna.

12th TRB International Conference on Low Volume Roads comes to Kalispell, Montana

Posted on October 22nd, 2019

Kalispell, Montana proved to be an ideal venue for the 12th TRB International Conference on Low Volume Roads, held in late September.  Sponsored by the Transportation Research Board and co-sponsored by the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the conference welcomed 250 participants from 22 countries who experienced low volume roads in northwest Montana firsthand.   The conference provided 27 sessions covering 104 presentations, six hands-on workshops, and a field tour highlighting demonstrations of a variety of low volume road management tools.

The Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University served as the local host and worked on site details for two years in preparation for this enormous event. WTI researchers Laura Fay, Natalie Villwock-Witte, Jaime Sullivan, Ahmed Al-Kaisy,  and Matt Ulberg, Director of Montana Local Technical Assistance Program presented at the conference.

Conference organizer, David Jones, University of California, Davis, was excited that the conference took place in a rural setting where the knowledge shared is most needed.  “Since 1975, this conference has been held every four years and provides a forum for the exchange of information and innovative ideas on all aspects of low volume roads,” said Jones.  “This year’s conference continues that long tradition.  Kalispell, with Glacier National Park nearby, is a beautiful area of the country and our local hosts excelled in providing a great venue with plenty of opportunities for activities.”

Colin Brooks and Rick Dobson of Michigan Technological University demonstrate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during a field tour at the 2019 Low Volume Roads conference.

Colin Brooks and Rick Dobson of Michigan Technological University demonstrate an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) during the LVR field tour.

Montana LTAP Director Elected to National Post

Posted on September 12th, 2019

Head shot of LTAP Director Matt UlbergCongratulations, Matt Ulberg!  The Director of the Montana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) was elected Vice President of the National Local Technical and Tribal Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA) at the Annual NLTAPA Meeting August 14th in Stowe, Vermont. As the National Association’s Vice-President, Matt also serves as the co-chair of the NLTAPA Partnership Work Group. In 2021, he will serve a term as President of the organization.

LTAPs and Tribal Technical Assistance Programs (TTAPs) provide training and resources to county and tribal transportation agencies on topics such as workzone safety, equipment and vehicle use, and incident management. NLTAPA serves as the national organization supporting 52 LTAP and TTAP partner programs around the United States and Puerto Rico, maintaining a broad focus not only on the needs of the LTAP/TTAP program, but also on the perspective of the NLTAPA partners including the Federal Highway Administration, (FHWA), National Association of County Engineers (NACE), American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), American Public Works Association (APWA), and National Transportation Training Directors (NTTD). The Association’s main objectives are to build awareness about LTAP in the transportation community, assist FHWA with developing strategies for the Program, and build the capacity of each Center to best meet the needs of its customers.

“NLTAPA and our partners are doing important work to increase the knowledge and improve the skills of our current transportation workers, and also to plan for the critical skills that will be needed by the next generation,” said Ulberg. “I’m excited to contribute to national initiatives, as well as enhance resources that I can bring back to our programs in Montana.”

Montana LTAP is an integral part of the network of centers at the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at MSU-Bozeman.