Top 12 finalists named in America’s Transportation Awards competition

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials today announced the Top 12 finalists in the 2021 America’s Transportation Awards competition. State department of transportation projects in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah have earned the highest number of points in the regional contests, solidifying a place in this year’s Top 12.

The Top 12 finalists – whittled down from 80 nominees from 35 state DOTs via four U.S. regional contests – now compete for the Grand Prize and the People's Choice Award. Both prizes come with a $10,000 cash award, for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of the winners' choosing.

“While the last 18 months have brought so much uncertainty, one thing that has remained the same is the commitment from state DOTs to deliver a safe and efficient multimodal transportation system for our communities,” said Jim Tymon, AASHTO executive director. “This competition recognizes just a few examples that highlight the ways in which state DOTs are improving quality of life and economic vitality of our communities, saving time and money through new innovations and technologies, and making better use of assets already in place.”

Sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the competition evaluates projects in three categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Best Use of Technology & Innovation; and Operations Excellence. The projects are also divided into three sizes: small (projects costing up to $25 million); medium (projects that cost between $26 million to $200 million); and large (projects costing more than $200 million).

An independent panel of transportation industry experts will select the Grand Prize winner, while the general public will decide the People's Choice Award winner through online voting. Online votes will be weighted to each state's population, allowing for greater competition between states with larger and smaller populations. AASHTO will announce the winners during its Annual Meeting in San Diego, October 26-29. Online voting begins today and ends at 11:59 p.m. on October 25. Cast your vote at AmericasTransportationAwards.org. Individuals can cast no more than one vote per day.

The Top 12 projects in alphabetical order are:

Arizona DOT—Fourth Street Bridge over Interstate 40 (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project group)

Delaware DOT—Margaret Rose Henry Bridge and Approach Roads (Operations Excellence, Medium Project group)

Florida DOT—Leveraging Innovation: How FDOT Transformed the Gateway to Florida Keys (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Small Project group)

Indiana DOT— Grand Valley Boulevard Bridge (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small Project group)

Kansas DOT—Turner Diagonal: Partnering for Growth (Operations Excellence, Medium Project group)

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet—Brent Spence Bridge Emergency Repair Project (Operations Excellence, Small Project group)

New Jersey DOT—Route 1 Permanent Hard Shoulder Running Project (Operations Excellence, Small Project group)

North Carolina DOT—Reconstruction of Salem Parkway (U.S. 421/I-40 Business) (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project group)

Oregon DOT—I-84 Snow Zone Safety Improvement Project (Operations Excellence, Small Project group)

Pennsylvania DOT—Ohiopyle Multimodal Gateway (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small Project group)

South Carolina DOT—S.C. 61 Phase 1 (Rural Road Safety Program) (Operations Excellence, Small Project group)

Utah DOT—I-15; Lehi Main to S.R. 92, Technology Corridor (Quality of Life/Community Development, Large Project group)