State DOTs Take Home Transportation Awards in Northeast Competition

AASHTO News, 11 June 2013

PORTLAND, Maine – Transportation projects that improved safety, increased efficiency for transit riders and saved taxpayers dollars were among the recipients of top honors in the northeast regional America’s Transportation Awards competition.

“This year’s entries encompass the broad scope of transportation projects completed every day by state transportation departments,” said Mike Lewis, AASHTO president and director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. “The America’s Transportation Awards competition showcases how state departments of transportation are delivering quality projects with the limited transportation dollars. Through this competition, we honor these projects for their excellent stewardship of our tax dollars and the incredible innovations they display.”

Now in its sixth year, the America’s Transportation Awards competition – sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce –  recognizes the very best of America’s transportation projects in three main categories: Ahead of Schedule, Under Budget, and Best Use of Innovation.

Eight transportation projects from five northeastern states were nominated in those categories.

New York State Department of Transportation took home two awards in the Ahead of Schedule category. NYSDOT’s NY Route 201 Bridge Replacements Project earned an award in the small project category (less than $25 million), while the department’s Taconic State Parkway AMVETS Memorial Bridge Project took home the prize for the medium category ($25 million to $200 million).

Two states took home awards in the Under Budget category: Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s Stillwater Viaduct Bridge Rehabilitation Project (small project) and Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, Contract B1 Project (medium project).

A two-project tie was announced in the Best Use of Innovation category, prompting two separate winners in the small size category: Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s MBTA Mobile Ticketing Project and Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s Wickford Junction Station and Garage.

The winners in the nation’s remaining regions will be announced at their own regional meetings, held throughout the summer. The 10 projects with the highest overall scores will compete for the Grand Prize and People’s Choice Award. The Grand Prize winner is determined by a panel of transportation experts. The People’s Choice Award is presented to the transportation project that receives the most online votes from the public. Online voting begins Sept. 4. The winners of both awards will be announced at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Denver in October.

Learn more about the projects and the competition at www.AmericasTransportationAwards.org.

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