AASHTO Journal - Transportation Awards Given to Seven Southern State DOTs

Seven southern state departments of transportation won regional awards for 10 transportation projects on August 20 from the Southern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

[Left to right above: Carlos Braceras, AASHTO’s 2018-2019 president; Kevin Thibault, secretary of the Florida DOT; and Jim Tymon, AASHTO’s executive director.]

This is the last of four regional America’s Transportation Awards competitions. The three highest-scoring projects from each regional competition earn a place on a “Top 12” list of projects, which will compete for the Grand Prize – selected by an independent panel of industry judges – and the People’s Choice Award, chosen by the general public through online voting.

The top two winners also receive $10,000 cash awards, to be donated to a charity or scholarship of the state DOT’s choosing.

“For 12 years, the America’s Transportation Awards have recognized state DOT projects for making communities safer, less congested, and better connected,” noted Carlos Braceras, executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2018-2019 president, in a statement.

He added that the winners “demonstrate how state DOTs collaborate with local communities and partners to develop innovative, multimodal solutions that keep people and goods moving by motor vehicle, scooters, bicycle, and on foot.”

Sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the 12th annual America’s Transportation Awards competition is comprised of three categories:

Quality of Life/Community Development, which recognizes projects that provide significant benefits to the communities in which they are located, especially in the form of economic growth and the well-being of citizens.
Best Use of Technology & Innovation, which recognizes new technology and/or creative solutions implemented by a state DOT.
Operations Excellence, which recognizes projects that deliver a more reliable, well-functioning, and/or safer transportation system through operational solutions.

Project categories are also designated by size: small (projects costing less than $25 million), medium (projects that cost between $25 million and $200 million), and large (projects costing more than $200 million).

The winners from the SASHTO regional competition are:

South Carolina Department of Transportation—Historic Iron Bridge at Glendale Shoals Project (Quality of Life/Community Development – Small category)
Virginia Department of Transportation —Pulse Bus Rapid Transit(Quality of Life/Community Development – Medium category)
Florida Department of Transportation– SunRail Southern Expansion (Quality of Life/Community Development – Large category)
South Carolina Department of Transportation– Project Lifeline (Operations Excellence – Small category)
Virginia Department of Transportation—Towing, Recovery, and Incentive Program (TRIP)(Operations Excellence – Small category)
Arkansas Department of Transportation—Highway 70 Widening Project (Operations Excellence – Medium category)
Florida Department of Transportation—Krome Ave. Reconstruction and Widening Project (Operations Excellence – Medium category)
Georgia Department of Transportation—Northwest Corridor Express Lanes Project (Operations Excellence – Large category)
North Carolina Department of Transportation—UAS Hurricane Florence Response (Best Use of Technology & Innovation – Small category)
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development—I-49 Segment K Phase 2 (Interchange with I-220) Project (Best Use of Technology & Innovation – Medium category)