The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced more than $8 million in Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration program grants to state departments of transportation (DOTs) and local governments in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York and North Dakota. The grants will help deliver bridge projects sooner, improve traffic management, and accelerate the use of innovative tools and technologies.
"These funds will help support our state and local partners across the country in their efforts to deliver more resilient roads, bridges and highways for the traveling public," said Federal Highway Administrator Nicole R. Nason. "The grants being awarded today will help advance innovative transportation solutions to improve safety and mobility on America's roadways."
Since the launch of the AID Demonstration in February 2014, and including the grants announced Jan. 21, FHWA officials have awarded more than $74 million for 102 grants to help federal land management agencies, tribal governments, state DOTs, metropolitan planning organizations and local governments accelerate the use of innovative practices and improve safety. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation, for example, is using a $1 million grant awarded in Fiscal Year 2017 to help pay for its first Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI). That project will demolish the existing SH-6 bridges over I-40, replace them with the DDI and create a safer intersection in Elk City.
AID Grants
AID Demonstration program grants will be used for:
- Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and Baldwin County Highway Department: $1,000,000 — ALDOT and Baldwin County will employ two innovations — Accelerated Bridge Construction and Next Beam Ultra High-Performance Concrete Retrofit — to shorten construction time from 14 weeks to six weeks for bridge retrofit projects.
- Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT): $313,600 — ArDOT will use 3D Modeling and e-Construction, two innovations supported by FHWA, to enhance the use of Global Navigation Satellite System technology in the engineering and construction phases of projects.
- Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT): $800,000 — CDOT will utilize Snow Plow Signal Priority to improve traffic flow during and after snow removal.
- Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and city of Orlando: $998,216 — FDOT will use its grant to improve traffic signalization at intersections in sections of Orlando. A pilot demonstration that the grant will help fund is part of a larger project being undertaken to intelligently manage transportation flows around Orlando's downtown area.
- Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and city of Jerseyville: $1,000,000 — IDOT will employ an innovative material known as compacted concrete pavement to improve roadway surface conditions on Hollow Avenue in Jerseyville.
- Iowa Department of Transportation and city of Dubuque: $998,000 — The Iowa Department of Transportation and the city of Dubuque's Smart Traffic Routing with Efficient and Effective Traffic Signals project will benefit from an AID grant that can help develop a smart, next-generation traffic management and control system that will ultimately link 11 corridors and allow them to act as one integrated system.
- Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT): $1,000,000 — MDOT will employ two innovations — Accelerated Bridge Construction and Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems (PBES) — to reduce the number of potential delays caused by traffic during construction of the 2nd Avenue Network Arch Superstructure project.
- Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the city of Winona: $1,000,000 — MnDOT will use this grant for an innovative road project to improve safety, mobility, and access for drivers and bicyclists along Broadway Avenue in the city of Winona.
- New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT): $740,000 — NYSDOT will use its grant to improve traffic incident management on a region-wide basis.
- North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT): $241,687 — NDDOT is using its grant to deploy a robot-driven crash truck known as an "autonomous attenuator" that can protect workers from traffic when doing routine maintenance activities.
For more information, visit www.fhwa.dot.gov/innovation/grants/.
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