U.S. Department of Transportation Announces $2.47 Million for Innovative Projects in Maine, Pennsylvania and Washington |
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Federal Highway Administration
22 January 2015
FHWA 03-15
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Contact: Neil Gaffney
Tel.: (202) 366-0660
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced $2.47 million for projects that will speed deployment of innovative road and bridge work in Maine, Pennsylvania and Washington. The funds, the first awarded this calendar year under the FHWA’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration program, will be used to offset the cost of more efficient highway project delivery.
“With one out of four bridges needing significant repair and 65 percent of our roads rated in less than good condition, there’s a clear need to invest in our nation’s infrastructure.” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, “These investments harness innovation to improve the quality of our road and bridges and the efficiency of how they are built to get motorists the benefits they deserve as quickly as possible.”
The AID Demonstration program will ultimately invest $30 million in incentive funding for federal, state, local and tribal government agencies to speed up their use of these innovative methods. The AID program builds on the success of the agency’s ongoing Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative, a partnership between the FHWA and state and local transportation agencies to accelerate the deployment of innovative methods and cut project delivery times.
Moving forward, the Obama Administration proposed the GROW AMERICA Act, which provides a national vision for an aging transportation network and a growing population. The GROW AMERICA Act would increase investment in roads, highways and bridges to meet the urgent transportation challenges facing urban, suburban and rural communities.
“The states receiving AID demo grants are using cutting-edge technology and creative project delivery methods from which others can learn,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau. “We’re proud of our partnership with state DOTs and are excited to provide funds for projects that can put better techniques for road- and bridge-building in place in Maine, Pennsylvania, Washington and elsewhere.”
The AID Demonstration program grants will be used for the following efforts:
| Agency | Amount | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) | $1,000,000 | MaineDOT will use AID funds on the Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) project delivery method (an innovation supported by FHWA under EDC) on the Sarah Mildred Long Bridge replacement project. By using CM/GC, MaineDOT will be able to take advantage of private sector input and talent earlier in the design process, leading to faster and more cost-effective project delivery for the replacement bridge connecting Kittery, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. |
| Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) | $750,000 | WSDOT will use its AID grant on methodology that can improve information management on several projects throughout the state. The methodology is expected to bolster community engagement, mode choice consideration and strategic investments. |
| Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) | $720,000 | PennDOT will invest its AID demo grant in adaptive traffic signal control technology linked to the traffic management center for the McKnight Road corridor from I-279 to Perrymount Road/Babcock Boulevard near Pittsburgh. The use of the technology will provide significant improvement by modernizing traffic operations. |
| TOTAL | $2,470,000 |