Save the Date - NOACA Annual Meeting

Join NOACA at its 2013 Annual Meeting on Friday, September 13 at the new Global Center for Health Innovation in downtown Cleveland. The event (formerly known as the NOACA Summit) will feature transportation-related themes and speakers as well as the annual presentation of the Walter F. Ehrnfelt, Jr. Award for Outstanding Regional Contribution. Save the date and plan to attend!

Apply for NOACA TLCI Grant Funding

Local governments and public agencies - do you have concepts or plans for improving mobility, safety, and livability in your community? Do you need funding to help implement your plans? NOACA invites you to apply for a 2014 Transportation for Livable Communities Initiative (TLCI) planning grant. NOACA will award funding grants of up to $75,000 for communities to prepare studies that could eventually lead to transportation improvement projects. The deadline for this year's application cycle is Friday, August 30. For more information, or to check your eligibility, contact TCLI program manager Ryan Noles.

Watch Dynamic Message Boards for Air Quality Advisories

When ozone or fine particle pollution levels climb into the unhealthy range, NOACA issues air quality advisories informing the media and public about elevated pollution levels and associated health risks for the elderly,

ODOT dynamic message boards will display air quality advisories in addition to traffic condition information.

children and persons with respiratory diseases. Beginning this month, air quality advisories have been posted on the Ohio Department of Transportation's dynamic message boards, found over the region's freeways. If you are driving and see an air quality advisory on the message board, take action! Reduce trips driving alone and instead, carpool or take the bus. Use your bike to run short errands. With fewer vehicles are on the road, air quality improves.

Attend the 2013 Ohio Conference on Freight

Registration is underway for the 7th annual Ohio Conference on Freight, to take place September 12-13, 2013, at the Kalahari Convention Center in Sandusky, Ohio. The conference is an annual forum for freight carriers, planners, engineers, manufacturers and distributors, policy makers, and others concerned with the movement of goods in the Great Lakes region. Workshops and presentations will focus on the Drive to Innovate - the way it is changing how we transfer goods; design, fund and deliver infrastructure; and make policy. The program includes a tour of the Technology Development and Engineering Center (TDEC) at Sierra Lobo, Inc, in Milan, Ohio. Professional engineers (PE) and certified planners (AICP) who attend the conference are eligible for professional education credits. Early bird registration ends August 9.

Comment on Proposed Transportation Improvements

NOACA welcomes public review and comment on all of its federally funded programs and projects. For the next two months, descriptions of 15 proposed road, bridge and transit projects from Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina Counties will be available on the website for review and comment. At its September 13, 2013 meeting, the NOACA Governing Board will consider adding these projects to the region's  long-range transportation plan and getting them one step closer to receiving federal funding.