AASHTO Journal - Western State DOT Projects Win Regional Awards

Eight state department of transportation projects in Alaska, California, Idaho, Texas, and Washington earned regional recognition in the 2022 America’s Transportation Awards competition.

[Above photo by WSDOT]

The award contest honored those projects for creating a “compass” to guide active transportation development; providing a safe and reliable evacuation route for an island village; and developing a more equitable and comprehensive public engagement tool for current and future transportation projects, among others.

“State DOTs are overwhelmingly focused on innovative solutions to address the transportation issues of today and tomorrow, meeting challenges involving climate change, equity, resiliency, and safety,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in a statement.

“The America’s Transportation Awards program shows just how they’re doing that. Whether on foot, in a vehicle, on two wheels, or by rail or transit, state DOTs are continuing to advance a safe, multimodal transportation system,” he added.

Sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the competition serves as a way to recognize state DOTs and highlights the projects they deliver that make their communities a better place to live, work, and play. Project nominations fall into one of three categories: Operations Excellence, Best Use of Technology & Innovation, and Quality of Life/Community Development.

All nominated projects will first compete on a regional level against projects of their own size: “Small” (projects costing up to $25 million), “Medium” (projects costing between $25 million and $200 million), and “Large” (projects costing more than $200 million).

In the Western region, 12 states nominated 22 projects, with five state DOTs taking home the following America’s Transportation Awards:

Washington State Department of Transportation — Active Transportation Plan 2020 and Beyond(Quality of Life/Community Development, Small category)
Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities — Kivalina Evacuation and School Site Access(Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium category—TIE)
Washington State Department of Transportation — Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal(Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium category—TIE)
Texas Department of Transportation — US 281 North Expansion, Segment 1(Quality of Life/Community Development, Large category)
Idaho Transportation Department — Fastlane: Conquering Corridor Challenges(Operations Excellence, Small category)
Texas Department of Transportation — Lowest Stemmons Project(Operations Excellence, Medium category)
Washington State Department of Transportation — I-5 Steilacoom-DuPont Rd to Thorne Lane – Corridor Improvements(Operations Excellence, Large category)
California Department of Transportation — 360 Tours(Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small category)

After all regional meetings have taken place over the summer, the three highest scoring projects from each region will be named the “Top 12” and will go on to compete for the top two national prizes.

An independent panel of industry judges selects the Grand Prize winner, while the project receiving the highest number of online votes from the public earns the People’s Choice Award.

AASHTO will reveal the winners of those top two prizes – which each receive $10,000 to donate to a charity or scholarship of their choice – at its 2022 annual meeting this October in Orlando, FL.

Visit https://americastransportationawards.org/ to learn more about this year’s WASHTO nominees.