The America’s Transportation Awards competition recently honored eight departments of transportation (DOTs) in six Southeastern states for a variety of achievements, including innovative roadway designs that reduce motor vehicle accidents and create safer routes for bicycles and pedestrians.
Awards were given in three categories: quality of life/community development, best use of technology and innovation, and operations excellence. Categories were additionally also broken down by the cost of the project: small, less than $25 million; medium, costing between $25 million and $200 million; and large, costing more than $200 million.
“State DOTs are committed to making America safer, better and stronger by improving connections between communities both large and small, urban and rural,” John Schroer, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) president, said. “The transportation projects in this competition are part of a national multimodal network that is moving millions of people and tons of goods where they need to go every day.”
Southeastern winners include the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Piedmont Improvement Program in the Operations Excellence category, large subcategory; and the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s I-24 Improvements for Hankook Tire in the Quality of Life/Community Development category, medium subcategory. The Florida Department of Transportation won an award for best use of technology and innovation in the medium subcategory for its I-75 (SR 93) at University Parkway—Diverging Diamond Interchange project.
The awards were sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Socrata.
Winners of the national Grand Prize, and the Socrata People’s Choice Award will be announced Sept. 23 at the AASHTO annual meeting in Atlanta.