Florida Construction News staff writer
Ten projects from state departments of transportation in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia won top prizes in the regional 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition.
Projects from the Southeastern (SASHTO) region were recognized for their “robust impact” on communities, ranging from increasing connectivity and mobility for bicyclists and pedestrians to making people safer by utilizing innovative technology.
“The America’s Transportation Awards competition highlights the critical role state DOTs play in improving safety, enhancing mobility, and improving quality of life for their communities,” said AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon.
Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America’s Transportation Awards competition showcases how state DOT projects strengthen their local communities.
- Projects are nominated in four categories:
- Quality of Life/Community Development
- Operations Excellence
- Best Use of Technology & Innovation
- Safety
In response to the increasing number of fatalities on U.S. roadways in recent years, 2024 marks the inaugural year of the Safety category, celebrating projects that effectively addressed safety challenges.
“This year, AASHTO introduced a new safety category aligned with President Craig Thompson’s emphasis areas, providing a platform to share strategies for reducing fatalities and serious crashes nationwide. The winners here in the SASHTO region exemplify excellence in transportation, covering everything from prioritizing infrastructure for active transportation users to increasing safety for drivers and passengers by stabilizing towering rock cliffs over busy highways.”
All nominated projects first compete at the regional level against projects of their own size: “Small” (projects costing up to $10 million), “Medium” (projects costing between $10 million and $100 million), and “Large” (projects costing more than $100 million). This year’s winning SASHTO regional projects are:
- Florida Department of Transportation’s Wekiva Parkway Section 7A (Quality of Life/Community Development, Large Project)
- Florida Department of Transportation’s Orange Blossom Trail Pedestrian Safety Improvements (Safety, Small Project)
- Georgia Department of Transportation’s Advanced Rail Crossing Blocking Notification Project (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small Project)
- North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Harkers Island Bridge Replacement (Operations Excellence, Medium Project)
- Georgia Department of Transportation’s Historic Rogers Bridge Pedestrian/Bike Crossing (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small Project)
- West Virginia Department of Transportation’s Grant Street Bridge (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project)
- Arkansas Department of Transportation’s Highway 28 Bridge Rehabilitation with State Forces (Operations Excellence, Small Project)
- Tennessee Department of Transportation’s Broadway Bridge Replacement (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Medium Project)
- West Virginia Department of Transportation’s Wellsburg Bridge (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Large Project)
- West Virginia Department of Transportation’s US 340 Rock Fall Mitigation (Safety, Medium Project)
Following the regional competitions, the “Top 12” nationwide finalists will be announced in early September, featuring the three highest-scoring projects from each region. These top contenders will then compete for the two 2024 America’s Transportation Awards national prizes.
The Grand Prize will be selected by an independent panel of judges, while the People’s Choice Award will go to the project with the most online votes from the public, weighted by state population. AASHTO will announce the winners at its annual meeting in October 2024 in Philadelphia. Winners of those awards will receive $10,000 each for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of their choosing.
