Top 12 Transportation Projects Competing for Two Final Prizes

August 31, 2018

A group of 12 transportation projects, culled from four regional competitions, are now in the final round of the 11th annual America’s Transportation Awards competition – with the two winning entries to be announced at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Annual Meeting in Atlanta on Sunday, Sept. 23.

In April, 35 state DOTs nominated 79 projects for consideration in the national competition sponsored by AASHTO, Socrata, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The three highest scoring projects in four regional contests became the competition’s “Top 12,” which are now competing 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 encompassed a wide range of transportation endeavors, including: the creation of a greenway for bikes and pedestrians on what had been a highway-only corridor; improving transit service efficiency and reliability via the implementation of software that also saved millions of dollars in the process; and the replacement an essential bridge damaged by heavy rain.

“The quality of projects in this year’s competition was truly incredible,” noted AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright in a statement. “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.”

Florida DOT I-75 Interchange

This national competition evaluated projects in three categories – Quality of Life/Community Development, Best Use of Technology & Innovation, and Operations Excellence – and divided them by size: small projects (less than $25 million); medium projects ($25 million to $200 million); and large projects (more than $200 million).

The Top 12 projects in alphabetical order are:

The Grand Prize will be determined by an independent panel of transportation industry experts, while the Socrata People’s Choice Award will be selected through online voting by the general public that began Aug. 30 and will continue through 11:59 p.m. eastern time on Saturday, Sept. 22, at: http://AmericasTransportationAwards.org.

Related articles