Midwest DOT Projects Take Home Regional ATA Awards

Ten projects from state departments of transportation in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota and Wisconsin won top prizes in the regional 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition. These projects from the Mid America region were recognized for their robust impact on communities, ranging from employing new technology to benefit rural transit users to finding new solutions to keep drivers safe during winter weather events.

Selected from 27 projects nominated by nine state DOTs in the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials (MAASTO) region, they are among 106 nominations submitted by 39 state DOTs as part of the annual America’s Transportation Awards contest. 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.

Photo courtesy of Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

Projects are nominated in four categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Operations Excellence; Best Use of Technology and Innovation; and Safety. They highlight transportation’s crucial role for every person in every community, regardless of their travel mode. 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.

“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 Jim Tymon, AASHTO executive director. “New this year, AASHTO introduced a standalone safety category aligned with President Craig Thompson’s key focus areas, offering a platform to share strategies for reducing fatalities and serious crashes nationwide. These awards recognize excellence in transportation, from upgrading vital passenger rail routes to better accommodate travelers to reconnecting communities through improved infrastructure.”

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 MAASTO regional projects are:

• Michigan Department of Transportation’s U.S. 41 Reconstruction (Quality of Life/Community Development, Small Project)
• Ohio Department of Transportation’s Downtown Ramp Up I-70/71 Project 3B (Quality of Life/Community Development, Medium Project)
• Illinois Department of Transportation’s Connecting Illinois Via High-Speed Rail (Quality of Life/Community Development, Large Project)
• Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Utilizing the Corridor Approach for Blowing Snow Control (Operations Excellence, Small Project)
• Kansas Department of Transportation’s Accelerating Economic Prosperity in the Heartland: A Rural Freight Rail Project (Operations Excellence, Medium Project)
• Indiana Department of Transportation’s I-69 Finish Line (Operations Excellence, Large Project)
• Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Regional Mobility-as-a-Service Project (Best Use of Technology and Innovation, Small Project)
• Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Smithland Bridge (Best Use of Technology & Innovation, Medium Project)
• Michigan Department of Transportation’s High Speed Lane Separation on U.S. 31, M-72 in Acme Township (Safety, Small Project)
• Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Zoo Interchange North Leg (Safety, Large Project)

Photo courtesy of WisDOT Aerial Imagery

Following the MAASTO regional competition, the top 12 nationwide finalists will be announced, 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. Both winners will receive $10,000 each for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of their choosing.

For more information, visit americastransportationawards.org/.