AASHTO Journal - Mid-American State DOTs Win Transportation Awards

State department of transportation projects in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, and Wisconsin won top prizes in the regional 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition.

[Above photo by AASHTO]

The 10 winning projects were selected from 27 nominated by nine state DOTs in the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials or MAASTO region.

They are among 106 nominations submitted by 39 state DOTs as part of the annual America’s Transportation Awards contest. Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America’s Transportation Awards competition showcases how state DOT projects strengthen their local communities.

AASHTO noted that projects are nominated to compete in the America’s Transportation Awards contest across four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Operations Excellence; Best Use of Technology & Innovation; and Safety.

This year marks the introduction of the safety category, introduced to highlight the efforts of state DOTs in response to the increasing number of fatalities on U.S. roadways in recent years.

“The America’s Transportation Awards competition highlights the critical role state DOTs play in improving safety, enhancing mobility, and improving quality of life for their communities,” noted AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon in a statement.

“The new safety category aligns with AASHTO President Craig Thompson’s key focus areas, offering a platform to share strategies for reducing fatalities and serious crashes nationwide,” he added. “These awards recognize excellence in transportation, from upgrading high-speed railways to reconnecting communities through improved infrastructure.”

AASHTO noted that all nominated projects first compete at the regional level against projects of their own size: “Small” (projects costing up to $10 million), “Medium” (projects costing between $10 million and $100 million), and “Large” (projects costing more than $100 million).

This year’s winning MAASTO regional projects are:

Michigan Department of Transportation’s US-41 Reconstruction (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small Project)
Ohio Department of Transportation’s Downtown Ramp Up I-70/71 Project 3B (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project)
Illinois Department of Transportation’s Connecting Illinois Via High-Speed Rail (Quality of Life/Community Development, Large Project)
Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Utilizing the Corridor Approach for Blowing Snow Control (Operations Excellence, Small Project)
Kansas Department of Transportation’s Accelerating Economic Prosperity in the Heartland: A Rural Freight Rail Project (Operations Excellence, Medium Project)
Indiana Department of Transportation’s I-69 Finish Line (Operations Excellence, Large Project)
Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Regional Mobility-as-a-Service Project (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small Project)
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Smithland Bridge (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Medium Project)
Michigan Department of Transportation’s High Speed Lane Separation on US-31, M-72 in Acme Township (Safety, Small Project)
Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Zoo Interchange North Leg (Safety, Large Project)

Following the regional competitions, the “Top 12” nationwide finalists will be announced in early September, featuring the three highest-scoring projects from each region. Those top contenders will then compete for the two 2024 America’s Transportation Awards national prizes.

The Grand Prize will be selected by an independent panel of judges, while the People’s Choice Award will go to the project with the most online votes from the public, weighted by state population. The winners also receive $10,000 each for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of their choosing.

AASHTO will announce the America’s Transportation Award winners at its annual meeting in October in Philadelphia.