One of 12 finalists for two $10,000 prizes is this Maryland DOT project to improve safety on a roughly 10-mile stretch of MD 404. This $158 million project took a two-lane road and widened it to a four-lane divided highway, with a 34-foot median and 10-foot-wide shoulders.
With a chance for DOTs to win $10,000 for a scholarship or non-profit in their home states, this year’s top 12 transportation projects have made it to the final phase of the 11th annual America’s Transportation Awards competition.
You can vote now for your favorite among the top 12 projects by clicking here.
The dozen DOT projects in this round have made it through four regional competitions to get this far.
That’s out of a total of 79 projects that were considered in the national competition sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Socrata, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. DOTs from 35 states nominated the 79 projects.
The three highest-scoring projects in four regional contests became the competition’s top 12 and now compete for the national grand prize and the Socrata People’s Choice Award, both of which come with a $10,000 check for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of the winners’ choosing.
This year’s finalists created a greenway for bikes and pedestrians on what had been a highway-only corridor; improved transit service by implementing software that saved millions of dollars while boosting system efficiency and reliability; and replaced an essential bridge damaged by heavy rain – among other significant achievements, a press release says.
“The quality of projects in this year’s competition was truly incredible,” says AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright.
“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.”
In New Hampshire, heavy traffic, poor sight lines, skewed side streets, and uncontrolled driveways ended up leaving the southernmost segment of NH Route 125 plagued by crashes and traffic congestion. NHDOT moved forward with $6.9 million “Contract G,” a roadway resurfacing and widening project that included streets-oriented improvements.
The competition evaluates projects in three categories: Quality of Life/Community Development, Best Use of Technology & Innovation, and Operations Excellence.
The projects are also divided into three sizes: small projects (less than $25 million); medium projects ($25 million to $200 million); and large projects (more than $200 million).
An independent panel of transportation industry experts will decide which project takes home the grand prize.
The Socrata People’s Choice Award will be selected through online voting by the general public. Online votes will be weighted to each state’s population, allowing for greater competition between states with larger and smaller populations. The winners will be announced at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Atlanta on Sunday, September 23.
Online voting began August 30, and continues through 11:59 p.m. eastern time on September 22, at AmericasTransportationAwards.org. Individuals can vote once a day.
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 I-75 (SR 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 US-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 NH 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)
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