Now in its fifth 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. The categories are then split up by size: small (less than $25 million), medium (between $25 million and $199 million) and large ($200 million and more). The winners in the western region were announced at the Western Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials 2012 Meeting.
Thirteen transportation projects from 10 western states were nominated.
Ahead of Schedule winners:
- California Department of Transportation's I-405/Sepulveda Pass Project - Mulholland Bridge Demolition ("Carmageddon") (small project)
- Nevada Department of Transportation's Northbound US 395 Improvement Project (medium project)
Under Budget winners:
- Colorado Department of Transportation's C-470/Santa Fe Interchange Improvement Project (small category)
- Washington State Department of Transportation's Vessel Construction Program (large category)
Best Use of Innovation winners:
- Texas Department of Transportation's Permitting and Routing Optimization System (TxPROS) (small project)
- Arizona Department of Transportation's US 93, Hoover Dam to Milepost 17 (medium project)
- California Department of Transportation's Interstate 15 Express Lanes (large project)
Winners in the other regions will be announced at their own regional meetings, held throughout the summer. Once all regional winners are announced, the 10 projects with the highest total judge votes will compete for the Grand Prize, awarded to the state DOT project receiving the greatest number of points in judging by a panel of experts; and People's Choice Award, presented to the transportation project that receives the most online votes. Online voting begins September 5. The winners of both awards will be announced at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh in November.
Learn more about the projects and the competition.