AASHTO Journal - Northeastern State DOT Projects Win Regional Awards

Eight state department of transportation projects from Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont recently won regional 2023 America’s Transportation Awards – qualifying them to compete in the national round of the competition, which will be decided in November 2023.

[Above photo by Connecticut DOT]

Those 2023 regional winners were chosen from 19 projects nominated by the nine states that are members of the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials or NASTO.

“From employing cutting-edge technology to crafting multimodal options in local communities, these winning projects from the Northeastern region of the United States embody the inventive spirit of the transportation sector,” said Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, in a statement.

“The America’s Transportation Awards program celebrates state DOTs nationwide as they cater to today’s transportation needs and advance the transportation sector for future generations,” he added. “These projects make significant strides in boosting safety, promoting mobility, and enhancing transportation assets for all transit users, including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and public transportation customers.”

Created by AASHTO, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America’s Transportation Awards contest serves as a catalyst to honor state DOTs and the positive impacts their projects have on communities across the country.

With 81 nominations submitted by 36 state DOTs through the entire competition, the America’s Transportation Awards projects are sorted into three categories – Quality of Life/Community Development, Operations Excellence, and Best Use of Technology & Innovation – that further emphasize the diverse ways transportation infrastructure generates economic growth and improves quality of life.

All nominated projects 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).

This 2023 winning northeastern regional projects are:

Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small category)
Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Interchange 33 on Interstate 95 in Stratford (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium category)
New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Route 71/Shark River Bridge Emergency Repair and Road Diet (Operations Excellence, Small category)
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s I-70 Yukon and Madison Interchanges Improvement Project (Operations Excellence, Medium category)
Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Charter Oak Bridge (Operations Excellence, Large category)
Maine Department of Transportation’s The Veranda Plan (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small category)
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Emergency Fern Hollow Bridge Replacement Project (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Medium category)
New York State Department of Transportation’s Kew Gardens Interchange (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Large category)

Once all the regional meetings have concluded at the end of the summer, the “Top 12” list of finalists will be announced – a list comprised of the three highest scoring projects from four U.S. regions. Those top contenders will then compete for the two America’s Transportation Awards national prizes.

The Grand Prize recipient will be selected by a panel of judges, while the People’s Choice Award will be bestowed upon the project that garners the highest number of online votes from the general public.

Both the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award winners will receive $10,000 each toward their preferred scholarship or charity.

AASHTO will unveil the winners of these prizes at its annual meeting in November 2023, which will be held in Indianapolis.