The AASHTO Committee on Maintenance meets annually to discuss highway maintenance, emerging trends, new technologies, and compare notes. In 2026 this meeting took place in Westminster, Colorado and we mic'ed up Chair George Conner of the Alabama DOT to capture his thoughts and vision for highway maintenance in general and specifically the direction he and his leadership team are taking the Committee on Maintenance. If you've never been, here are some insights into the work accomplished there to advance highway maintenance nationally.

For folks who aren’t in the highway maintenance business George explains what it's all about and for those of us who live it everyday he reminds us why what we do is so important. We were also able to capture impressions of a few attendees at the meeting .

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Artificial Intelligence tools are seemingly everywhere and folks throughout transportation agencies are trying to get their heads, and hands, around this run away train. APWA Technical Director for Engineering and Technology and City of Pella, Iowa Public Works Director Dr, Wilf Nixon helps give some context to this world of AI.

Wilf's remarks were originally presented as the keynote address "Using AI in Winter Operations: Hype or Help?" at the 2026 Pacific Northwest Snowfighters Conference and is "rebroadcast" with permission of the Pacific Northwest Snowfighters.

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This National Briefing segment is presented by Dr. Brittany Welsh of the National Center For Atmospheric Research and Chair of the AMS Road Weather and Technology Committee.

Check out their work products and get more information about the AMS Road Weather and Technology Committee at their website https://www.ametsoc.org/cwwce/committees/road-weather-and-technology/

You can also reach out to Brittany Welsh at bmwelch@ucar.edu

Watch the video and presentation along with all the other briefings on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@Talkinwinterops or listen on the Talkin Winter Ops podcast at https://transportation.org/winter-weather-management/sicop-talks-winter-ops/ or wherever you get your podcast content.

Sign up for email notifications on future episodes and other communications associated with winter maintenance and winter weather management by clicking on subscribe on the Talkin' Winter Ops website at TalkinWinterOps.com

Thanks for listening in and stay safe out there!