AASHTO Announces 12 America’s Transportation Awards Finalists
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has revealed which 12 transportation projects have entered the final phase of the America’s Transportation Awards competition.
America’s Transportation Awards honor state departments of transportation that have led projects to improve safety and foster economic growth. The awards were sponsored jointly with Socrata, AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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The 12 finalists comprise of the top three projects from each AASHTO region, which encompass the Southeast, Northeast, Mid-America and West. They were pared down from a group of 79 projects that 35 state DOTs submitted for consideration.
Finalists will compete for a grand prize, determined by an independent panel of judges, and the Socrata People’s Choice Award, selected by the public through online voting. Both awards come with a $10,000 check, which will be put toward a charity or transportation-related scholarship of the winners’ choosing.
“The quality of projects in this year’s competition was truly incredible,” AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright said in a press release issued Aug. 30. “We’re also seeing greater variety in the kinds of projects nominated, something we’re very excited about. State departments of transportation are finishing projects every day that improve their communities, whether they be a major highway reconstruction or the creation of a bike and pedestrian pathway. These projects in the Top 12 are just a fraction of the tremendous projects delivered by state DOTs, but they represent the best of the best.”
The awards honor projects in three categories: quality of life/community development, best use of technology, and innovation and operations excellence. Each category was divided on the basis of cost, ranging from small projects (less than $25 million) and medium (between $25 million and $200 million) to large (more than $200 million).
The Top 12 projects in alphabetical order are:
- California Department of Transportation’s Highway 1/Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge Replacement (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small category)
- Florida Department of Transportation’s Interstate 75 (state Route 93) at University Parkway-Diverging Diamond Interchange (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Medium category)
- Georgia Department of Transportation’s Georgia 400 Trail (Path400) (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small category)
- Illinois Department of Transportation’s Interstate 55 and Lake Shore Drive Interchange (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Medium category)
- Maryland Department of Transportation’s Upgrade of Md. 404 (Shore Highway)—Improving Quality of Life and Safety of Maryland’s Eastern Shore (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium category)
- Michigan Department of Transportation’s U.S. 23 Flex Route (Operations Excellence, Medium category)
- Missouri Department of Transportation’s Route 65: The Rebuild (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small category)
- New Hampshire Department of Transportation’s N.H. Route 125 Reconstruction, Contract G (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small category)
- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Pennsylvania Statewide Demand-Response Transit Scheduling Software Implementation (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small category)
- South Carolina Department of Transportation’s York Street Bridge Replacement (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small category)
- South Dakota Department of Transportation’s High Friction Surface Treatment (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small category)
- Utah Department of Transportation’s Cottonwood Canyons Public Private Partnership Fiber Deployment (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small category)
Online voting for the Socrata People’s Choice Award runs from Aug. 30 through Sept. 22. Winners will be announced at AASHTO’s annual meeting Sept. 23.
