AASHTO Journal - Western State DOTs Win Awards for Transportation Projects

A batch of transportation projects across Arizona, California, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington State earned regional recognition in the 2020 America’s Transportation Awards competition for providing solutions that increase safety and save lives, make infrastructure more resilient, while improving the quality of life for their communities.

[Above photo by the Hawaii DOT.]

Patrick McKenna. Photo by the Missouri DOT.

“The people who planned, engineered and built these projects deserve recognition for the positive impacts they have provided through these investments in local communities,” said Patrick McKenna, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2019-2020 president, in a statement.

“Their work represents a dedication to connecting people and improving local economies while implementing creative solutions.”

In the America’s Transportation Awards competition – sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – state departments of transportation compete in three categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Best Use of Technology and Innovation; and Operations Excellence. Each category is also designated by budget size: small (less than $25 million), medium ($25 million to $200 million), and large (more than $200 million).

In the Western region, 15 states nominated 30 projects. The top Western region projects are:

Arizona Department of Transportation: State Route 347 at Union Pacific Railroad (Quality of Life/Community Development – Small category tie)
Montana Department of Transportation: Van Buren Street Interchange (Quality of Life/Community Development – Small category tie)
Washington State Department of Transportation: Alaskan Way Viaduct Demolition (Quality of Life/Community Development – Medium category)
Texas Department of Transportation: Border West Expressway (Quality of Life/Community Development – Large category)
North Dakota Department of Transportation: Highway Safety Corridors (Operations Excellence – Small category)
Arizona Department of Transportation: I-10/SR87 Improvement Project with Dust Detection System (Operations Excellence – Medium category tie)
Hawaii Department of Transportation: Kauai Emergency Repairs (Operations Excellence – Medium category tie)
Washington State Department of Transportation: State Route 99 Tunnel Project (Operations Excellence – Large category)
Oklahoma Department of Transportation: SH-33 Safety Corridor (Best Use of Technology & Innovation – Small category)
California Department of Transportation: Shasta Viaduct (Best Use of Technology & Innovation – Medium category)
Arizona Department of Transportation: Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway (Best Use of Technology & Innovation – Large category)

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

Those top national winners each receive $10,000 cash awards that will be donated to a charity or scholarship of their choosing.

Online voting for the People’s Choice Award began in August, with the top 12 national award winners to be announced later this year.