U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx Awards $5.4 Million to Speed Innovation in Transportation Projects |
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Topics: Anthony Foxx
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Federal Highway Administration
18 December 2014
FHWA 38-14
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Contact: Neil Gaffney
Tel: 202-366-0660
WASHINGTON – U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx today announced $5.37 million in grants from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) designed to accelerate deployment of innovative road and bridge work. The funds will be used to offset the cost of pioneering highway project delivery in six states.
"We are building projects faster and at less cost to taxpayers, without compromising safety, because of the investments being made through this program," said Secretary Foxx. "Saving money on one project means we can make improvements to critically needed infrastructure in communities elsewhere and that's smart investing."
The funding announced today comes from the FHWA Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration program, which will ultimately invest $30 million in incentive funding for federal, state, local and tribal government agencies to hasten 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 cutting project delivery times.
"We're proud to be a partner in this by providing the financial impetus to get these efforts off the ground and bring higher quality, more durable roads and bridges built using proven, state-of-the-art tools and technologies," said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau. "The states and local communities receiving these AID grants are breaking ground when it comes to putting better techniques in road- and bridge-building in place."
The AID Demonstration program grants will be used for the following projects:
| Agency | Amount | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) | $1,000,000 | ADOT will use AID funds to replace an antiquated lighting system with a new Light-Emitting Diode lighting system in the Queen Creek Tunnel along U.S. 60 in Superior. The project is expected to improve safety and efficiency along U.S. 60. |
| Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) | $1,000,000 | MDOT will use AID demonstration funding to replace the US-131 bridges over 3 Mile Road using slide-in bridge construction to minimize the impact on traffic in and around Grand Rapids on a major route that links major cities in Southern Michigan to resort areas in the north. |
| Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) | $964,000 | MoDOT will use its AID grant to apply High Friction Surface Treatments on seven projects throughout the state in order to improve surface friction and safety. |
| Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) | $775,110 | UDOT is using AID funds to save lives in work zone areas by implementing a program that utilizes new technology and portable variable speed limit signs to effectively reduce speed limits in active construction work zones on as many as four projects. |
| MDOT and the Dickinson County Road Commission | $661,000 | MDOT and the Dickinson County Road Commission will use its AID demonstration grant to apply Hot In-place Recycling and Warm Mix Asphalt to rehabilitate 4.5 miles of Pine Mountain Road/Westwood Avenue to Brookfield Street in the City of Kingsford. The project is expected to be environmentally friendly (100 percent recycling of the existing pavement) and achieved with reduced construction costs. |
| Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) | $600,000 | ODOT and NOACA will use AID funds to develop a comprehensive Transportation Asset Management Program that would provide significant improvement from the region’s conventional practice by addressing the backlog of projects and make informed, cost-effective program decisions. |
| Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) | $371,604 | INDOT will use its AID demo grant to develop a template and best practices for the use of alternate-bid detailed plans for a Self-Propelled Mobile Transport installation and SIBC method to replace existing twin interstate bridges in the state. |
| TOTAL | $5,371,714 |
For more information about these grants, and FHWA's AID Demonstration program, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/accelerating/grants.