About Highway School
The Highway School features short sessions of general interest in the mornings and 24-28 afternoon workshops lasting 75 minutes each. A partnership with statewide vendors supports the Pothole Picnic and Tailgate Tuesday lunches. Over 700 participants, the majority being local highway and public works officials, attend the Highway School every year.
The Association of Towns of the State of New York co-sponsors the Highway School and handles all of the registrations.
Registration is open!
Click here to register online or download the registration form here.
Date:
Highway School will be taking place June 6-8, 2022
Location:
The 2022 Highway School will be at a new location on the Ithaca College Campus - the A&E Center.
Learn more about this great new location here.
Click here to download a conference venue map.
To view a lodging list of hotels in the area please click here
2022 Highway School (Preliminary) Agenda:
Monday
Monday Morning - General Session
A&E Center Glazer Arena Main Stage
- 7:40am - Old Road Design Video with Lynne Irwin
Former NYS LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program Director Lynne Irwin - 8:00am - Pledge of Allegiance
David Orr, PE, Director, NYS LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program - 8:05am - Welcome to Highway School - Celebrating 75 Years!
Gerry Geist, Executive Director, Association of Towns of the State of New York
Rick Marquis, Division Administrator, FHWA-NY Division
Rich Benjamin, Highway Superintendent, Town of Thompson & President NYS Association of Town Superintendents of Highways
Andrew P. Avery, PE, Public Works Commissioner Chemung County DPW & President of NYS County Highway Superintendents Association - 8:25am - Q&A Panel: What I Wish I Knew When I Became the Highway Superintendent
Panel Facilitator - David Miller, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Lockport
Gary Thorington, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Windham
Michelle Brust, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Esperance - 8:55am - Current Practices in Winter Maintenance [‘58]
Rob Fitch, Acting Director Transportation Maintenance, NYSDOT - 9:25am - Finding, Recruiting, & Retaining Workers in the New World of Work
Ari Mack, Organizational Development Consultant, Cornell University
- 9:55am COFFEE BREAK
- 10:25am - Municipal Garages & Safety
Phil Spiezio, Senior Safety Officer, Washington County Attorney's Office - 11:05am - CDL Requirements
Donna Boyce, Transportation Specialist, TST Boces - 11:30am - Sources of Funding from NYS and the FHWA
Diane Kenneally, Director, Office of Integrated Modal Services, NYSDOT
Dawn Arnold, Assistant Director Local Programs Bureau, NYSDOT
12:00 pm. Pothole Picnic
Monday Afternoon - Workshops
A&E Center Glazer Arena & Grounds
Session one: 1:15–2:30 pm.; Session two: 2:45–4:00 pm.
- Worker/Material shortage - Finding, Engaging, and Retaining workers in a Post Pandemic World.
Ari Mack, Organizational Development Consultant, Cornell University - What's it like being new on the job Q&A Panel
Facilitator - David Miller, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Lockport
Gary Thorington, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Windham
Michelle Brust, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Esperance
John Papponetti, Commissioner of Public Works, Orleans County
Robert Milone, Superintendent of Highways, Town of Clarkstown
Walt Cook, Town and Village of De Ruyter - Flagging & Work Zone Safety: An Exercise You Can Do Yourself
Alex Gregor, Circuit Rider, NYSLTAP-CLRP - Snow and Ice Operations [‘52]
Rob Fitch, Acting Director Transportation Maintenance, NYSDOT - Hands-on Personal Protective Equipment
Phil Spiezio, Senior Safety Officer, Washington County Attorney's Office - CHIPS & Other Sources of Funds
Diane Kenneally, Director, Office of Integrated Modal Services, NYSDOT
Dawn Arnold, Assistant Director Local Programs Bureau, NYSDOT
Margaret Narins, State Program Manager Local Programs Bureau, NYSDOT
Tuesday
Tuesday Morning - General Session
A&E Center Glazer Arena Main Stage
- 7:35am - Video
Shake Hands with Danger - 8:00am - Welcome / Presiding
Andrew P. Avery, PE, Public Works Commissioner Chemung County DPW & President of NYS County Highway Superintendents Association - 8:05am - Build a Better Mousetrap Awards
Adam Howell, Marketing & Communications Manager, NYSLTAP-CLRP - 8:30am - Road Maintenance [‘47]
LADA - 8:50am - Dealing with Big Storms
Jeff Parker, Stueben County SWCD - 9:20am - Good Traffic Signs
Afnan Khwaja, Intern Engineer, NYSDOT - 9:45am - Roads Scholar Awards
David Orr, PE, Director, NYSLTAP-CLRP
- 10:00am - COFFEE BREAK
- 10:30am - Legal Problems of the Highway Superintendent ['53]
Moderator - David Orr, PE, Director, Cornell Local Roads Program
Lori Mithen-Demasi, Associate Counsel, Association of Towns
John Mancini, Counsel, NY Conference of Mayors.
Mark Stevens, Sr. Attorney Legal Services, NYS Office of the State Comptroller
12:00 pm. Tailgate Tuesday Picnic Lunch
Tuesday Afternoon - Workshops
A&E Center Glazer Arena & Grounds
Session one: 1:15–2:30 pm.; Session two: 2:45–4:00 pm.
- Evaluation of Local Gravels for Highway Use [‘52]
David Orr, PE, Director, NYSLTAP-CLRP - Designing Your Culverts for the Future
Jeff Parker, Stueben County SWCD
Jimmy Joe Carl, Chemung County SWCD - Responsibility for Trees and Other Obstructions On or Near the Right of Way [‘50]
Lori Mithen-Demasi, General Counsel, Association of Towns - Fleet Management/New Technology: The importance of the Right Equipment [‘59]
Rich Domonkos, Program Manager, Indiana LTAP - Joint Repair Demo
Mike Murphy, LADA - How to Build a Better Mousetrap
Nick Kuzmik, Special Projects Coordinator, NYSLTAP-CLRP
Wednesday
Wednesday Morning - General Session
A&E Center Glazer Arena Main Stage
- 7:45am- Video Road Safety
- 8:15am - Welcome / Presiding
Rich Benjamin, Highway Superintendent, Town of Thompson & President NYS Association of Town Superintendents of Highways - 8:25am - UDig NY
Emily Mandresh, Field Representative UDig NY - 9:00am - Updates to NYSDOT Asphalt Mixes
Tom Kane, Professional Engineer 2, NYSDOT
Bruce Barkevich, Vice President, NY Construction Materials Association - 9:30am - Hazard Mitigation and Assessing Vulnerability and Resiliency on Highways
Nicole McGrath, Community Planner, FHWA
10:00am - How an Agency Should Determine Road Improvement Priorities [‘54]
Geoffrey Scott, PE, Technical Assistance Engineer, NYSLTAP-CLRP - 10:30am - Watch Out for That Tree – Picking Low Hanging Fruit to Improve Highway Safety
David Orr, PE, Director, NYSLTAP-CLRP - 11:00am - Attendance Awards
David Orr, PE, Director, NYSLTAP-CLRP - 11:15am - Pictures
All Day
- Reception Area POSTER SESSION
Demos
- PERMA Simulator Trailer (Mon, Tues)
- NYSDOT Snow Plows (Mon, Tues)
- Brockway 776 Snowplow (Mon)
Highway School Conference Details
June 6 – 8, 2022
Click here to register online or download the registration form here.
Ithaca College, Ithaca New York
To view a lodging list for hotels in the area, please click here.
The 2022 Highway School will be at a new location on the Ithaca College Campus - the A&E Center.
Roads Scholar Awards
The Roads Scholar Award recognizes outstanding participation of highway personnel at the Highway School. The award was given out from 1963-1998 and restarted in 2015. The award is given out by county and accounts for attendance by all municipalities in the county: counties, towns, villages and cities.

Minimum Requirements
Counties that meet certain minimum percentages of each agency in attendance will get an honorable mention as a Road Scholar County. Each attendee from a county meeting the requirements below will receive a pin listing them as a Road Scholar.
- Minimum of 75 percent of town and county agencies represented, or
- Minimum of 50 percent of all agencies (town, county, village, and city) represented.
Superior Counties
The top three counties will be recognized as Superior Road Scholars based upon the percentages of municipalities represented. Each attendee will be given a hat in addition to the Road Scholar pin.
The maximum number of points that can be earned will be based upon the percentage of each municipal type at the School.