March 3, 2016
Thank You Stakeholders for Responding to EDC-4 Innovation Request
The Federal Highway Administration received a tremendous response from the highway community to the request for information on suggesting proven, market-ready innovations to deploy in the fourth round of Every Day Counts. FHWA received over 80 new innovation suggestions from public and private stakeholders as well as over 50 comments supporting the “Innovations of Interest” identified in the RFI. The suggestions are being evaluated to prepare a short list of innovations for potential deployment in EDC-4. As with previous rounds, FHWA will seek additional input from industry stakeholders on the short list prior to making a final selection of EDC-4 innovations later this spring. Webinars and regional summits in the fall will officially roll out EDC-4 and begin discussions about deployment goals for 2017-2018.
Demonstration Program Reaches Second Anniversary
FHWA launched the Accelerated Innovation Deployment Demonstration program two years ago to provide incentive funding and offset risks to accelerate the implementation and adoption of proven innovation in highway transportation. The AID Demonstration program was funded at $45 million under MAP-21 through the Technology and Innovation Deployment Program. FHWA has made 48 awards totaling over $35.6 million to State DOTs, local governments, tribal governments, and Federal land management agencies. Several applications for AID Demonstration funding are being reviewed by evaluation panels to award the remainder of the MAP-21 funding early this year. In the spring, FHWA will issue a new Notice of Funding Availability to establish the program goals and funding availability for AID Demonstration under the FAST Act. Several project summary reports on completed projects are available through the AID Demonstration website.
Illinois Engineering Conference Features Every Day Counts
An FHWA presentation at the Illinois Transportation and Highway Engineering Conference highlighted Every Day Counts innovations, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 50th anniversary. More than 600 transportation professionals attended the annual event February 23 and 24 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The focus of this year’s meeting was engineering in Illinois’ 102 counties.
Kentucky Trains Trainers on Traffic Incident Management
The Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services partnered with FHWA to offer a national traffic incident management train-the-trainer course on February 18 in Lexington. Thirty-eight responders representing emergency medical services, fire departments, law enforcement agencies, towing companies and transportation agencies attended. The course provided participants with the knowledge and materials they need to train their colleagues across the state on techniques for clearing traffic incidents safely and quickly.
Nebraska Develops Plan to Improve Roadway Data Capabilities
An FHWA team met with Nebraska Department of Roads and local agency staff in Lincoln February 9 through 12 to help develop recommendations to improve roadway data capabilities as part of the state’s data-driven safety analysis effort. After participating in a one-day workshop on data-driven safety analysis, state and local agency staff held roundtables to discuss recommendations to present to Nebraska Department of Roads and FHWA leadership.
Washington Adopts New Guidance on Project Delivery Method Selection
The Washington State Department of Transportation implemented new project delivery method selection guidance. The process enables planners to evaluate a project’s attributes, opportunities and risks and choose the most cost-effective and best-value delivery method. In the past, design-bid-build was used as the default method for all projects unless an alternative such as design-build or construction manager/general contractor was pursued. Recent legislation reduces the project cost threshold at which the Washington State DOT is authorized to use design-build from $10 million to $2 million and states that the agency is “strongly encouraged” to use design-build.
