KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — The Road Commission of Kalamazoo County (RCKC) received three statewide IMPRESS Awards and a People’s Choice Award at the 2023 County Road Association (CRA) Highway Conference held March 22 in Lansing.
IMPRESS Awards recognize county road agencies that demonstrate innovation on notable projects in the categories of Communications, Operations and Collaboration.
Communications: Starting in 2022, RCKC began generating detailed Monthly Service Request Tracking Reports to better serve the public and resolve service issues.
Operations: RCKC saw an opportunity to increase efficiency by improving broom operations and came up with the innovation of attaching two rotary brooms to the one larger tractor. The finished project includes detailed support arm engineering, additional materials and fabrication to incorporate gauge wheels that support the brooms and a water system to minimize dust.
Collaboration: RCKC converted its GPS services to Samsara in 2022 to optimize capabilities and incorporate custom systems to better serve the public. New capabilities include access to dash cameras, asset tracking, proximity searching, real time alerts, asset mapping and more.
This entry also won a People’s Choice Award.
An independent panel of communications and operations experts from several of Michigan’s 83 county road agencies judged all IMPRESS Awards submissions. Award recipients were honored for projects that solved time constraints, labor costs, communication barriers and fostered collaboration.
