Second Round of SHRP2 Implementation Assistance Announced, Upcoming Rounds Previewed

AASHTO Journal, 25 October 2013

Eighteen states will receive implementation and technical assistance in order to adopt some of the innovations coming out of the second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP2). This latest announcement marks the second round of SHRP2 assistance (see AASHTO Journal coverage on the first round here.

“The SHRP2 products are designed to provide you with innovative technologies and processes that will help you meet your most pressing challenges,” said a letter written by American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Executive Director Bud Wright, Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director and former AASHTO President Mike Lewis, and Federal Highway Administration Executive Director Jeff Paniati to the latest round of recipients. “The positive response by states to Round 2, and the enthusiastic work that has already started on more than 108 projects from Round 1, illustrate to us that state, federal, and local transportation agencies understand the real benefits that the SHRP2 products can bring to their programs.”

Assistance for this second round focuses on four SHRP2 products: Expediting Project Delivery (C19), in which 12 projects from 10 states will receive assistance; Performance Specifications for Rapid Renewal (R07), in which four state projects have been granted assistance; Managing Risk in Rapid Renewal Projects (R09), which includes four state DOT projects; and Railroad-DOT Mitigation Strategies (R16), in which seven projects from seven state DOTs will receive assistance. States will receive the assistance at two different participation levels: lead adopter and user incentive.

Alongside this announcement, SHRP2 partners also announced that it will be opening up the implementation assistance application process for Round 3 in a few months. The process will begin Jan. 17 and is scheduled to close Feb. 14, with the recipients announced in “mid-to-late March.” A fourth round is also expected next year, likely in June.

SHRP2 is a national partnership of three transportation organizations: AASHTO, FHWA, and the Transportation Research Board. Together, these partners are deploying products that will help the transportation community enhance the productivity, boost the efficiency, increase the safety, and improve the reliability of the nation’s highway system. With this second round of implementation assistance, 75 percent of states across the country are now actively engaged in the SHRP2 Implementation Assistance program.

Additional information on the SHRP2 program, including the list of current SHRP2 implementation assistance recipients, is available at SHRP2.transportation.org.

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