The latest episode of the Environmental Technical Assistance Program or ETAP Podcast examines the impact of Georgia’s Transportation Investment Act or TIA a decade after its passage – a voter-approved 1 percent sales tax dedicated to funding state transportation and infrastructure needs.
[Above photo by the Georgia DOT]
In 2012, voters in three Georgia regions – River Valley, the Central Savannah River Area, and the Heart of Georgia Altamaha – approved a 1 percent sales tax that would last for 10 years to fund regional and local transportation improvements. Voters in the Southern Georgia Region passed the same transportation tax referendum in 2018. While TIA tax collections continued through 2022 for the original three regions, those collections will continue until 2028 for the Southern Georgia Region.
The Georgia Department of Transportation is responsible for the management of the budget, schedule, execution and delivery of all 1,022 projects contained in the TIA’s “Approved Investment Lists,” and
Kenneth Franks – state TIA administrator – details on this episode of the ETAP podcast how the regional and local impact of those projects. To list to the full episode, click here.
The California Department of Transportation, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and passenger rail provider Brightline West plan to jointly design and construct three wildlife overcrossings across Interstate 15 and the future Brightline West high-speed rail system connecting Las Vegas and Southern California.
[Above photo by Caltrans]
Those overcrossings seek to provide a sustainable and safe path for wildlife – especially for bighorn sheep – over the existing northbound and southbound highway lanes and the future 218-mile high-speed rail system to be built within the median, explained California Governor Gavin Newsom (D).
“Roadways and rail lines must be designed to connect, not divide,” he said in a statement. “This project will not only protect the precious wildlife and habitat of the Mojave Desert region but will also get people between Las Vegas and Southern California safely and efficiently – preserving one of the most popular corridors in our state.”
Beyond building those three wildlife overcrossings, the Brightline West project aims to maintain or improve more than 600 culverts and large-scale crossings under I-15 that exist today as well as restore and install desert tortoise fencing and directional wildlife exclusionary fencing.
Over the past year, Brightline, Caltrans and CDFW said they have worked together to develop a coordinated plan to fund, design, construct and maintain these wildlife overcrossings. The parties intend to fund the overcrossings using a mix of Caltrans, CDFW and Brightline West capital resources, while also seeking federal dollars.
Concurrently, a recent blog post by the Pew Trusts highlights how the growing success of wildlife crossings – bridges, underpasses, and culverts designed to help animals avoid vehicle traffic – across the U.S. is drawing a surge of interest from policymakers seeking to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and protect animals.
State departments of transportation across the country continue investing in a variety of wildlife crossing projects.
For example, to date, Colorado DOT said it has built more than 60 wildlife mitigation structures crossing above or under highways throughout the state. Additionally, it has installed 400 miles of high big game fencing along state and U.S. highways or next to the interstates.
In August 2022, the agency completed a wildlife overpass and underpass on U.S. Highway 160 in the southwestern part of the state; a stretch of road where more than 60 percent of all crashes are due to wildlife-vehicle collisions.
Meanwhile, a research document released in July 2022 by an international pool funded study led by the Nevada Department of Transportation provides an “authoritative review” of the most effective measures to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, improve motorist safety, and build safer wildlife crossings.
With as many as two million collisions with large mammals in the United States leading to approximately 200 human deaths every year, the review compiled, evaluated, and synthesized studies, scientific reports, journal articles, technical papers, and other publications from within the United States and beyond to determine effectiveness of 30 different mitigation measures.
A recent video released by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet highlights how the agency’s biologists work to restore and improve streams and wetlands involved in state transportation projects.
[Above image via KYTC]
KYTC has worked closed with the Federal Highway Administration as well as other federal, state, and local agencies to identify and resolve environmental challenges on transportation projects. That results in more efficient environmental processes, thereby reducing time and funds to be expended on transportation projects, noted KYTC.
KYTC noted that it works with a wide range of groups to tackle such mitigation projects, including the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, the American Indian Tribal Outreach program, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others. Each of those “partnering efforts” discusses particular challenges common to transportation projects and provide resolutions beneficial to the environment.
State departments of transportation across the country tap into a variety of “biological resources” to minimize the environmental impact of infrastructure projects under their purview.
For example the Arizona Department of Transportation detailed in April 2022 how “biomonitor” teams from Northern Arizona University or NAU help the agency’s crews find and relocate endangered species – including snakes, birds and fish – from construction sites.
Specifically, those biomonitor teams train construction workers and others involved in transportation projects to identify any endangered species and what to do if they come across one. The teams also monitor construction activity and help safely remove any endangered species out of harm’s way.
Meanwhile, July and August every year, the North Carolina Department of Transportation temporarily lowers speed limits from 55 mph to 20 mph on the William B. Umstead Bridge – locally known as the old Manns Harbor Bridge – at dusk and dawn during the roosting period of purple martin bird flocks.
NCDOT noted in August 2022 that it has collaborated with the Coastal Carolina Purple Martin Society since 2007 to educate the public about the purple martin flocks, to protect both the birds and motorists.
From late July through August, the west end of the bridge becomes home to as many as 100,000 purple martins as they prepare for their annual migration to Brazil. The birds roost under the bridge at night, departing at dawn to feed and returning at sunset. The flock is so large during its peak that it is visible on radar.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials recently issued a video report on a “risk and resilience” knowledge session held during its 2022 Annual Meeting in Orlando.
[Above photo by AASHTO]
That knowledge session – sponsored by the American Concrete Pipe Association (ACPA) – examined how state departments of transportation address risk and resilience through their asset management plans.
Josh Beakley, ACPA vice president of engineering, moderated a panel of state DOT executives who shared their risk and resilience strategies as part of the knowledge session.
Those panelists included: Jennifer Carver, statewide community planning coordinator for Florida DOT; Pam Cotter, acting administrator of planning for Rhode Island DOT; Sandy Hertz, director of the Office of Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation at Maryland DOT; and Nathan Lee, director of technology and innovation at Utah DOT.
Risk and resilience are two issues the state DOT community regularly addresses as part of their strategic planning initiatives and are part of the key emphasis areas of AASHTO President Roger Millar, who is also the secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation.
Making the nation’s transportation system more resilient has been a major focus for Millar for much of his career.
He explained during a recent roundtable discussion at the 2023 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting that “resiliency” involves more than just toughening up infrastructure to withstand severe weather events and natural disasters.
“Resilience is a broad part of what we do in my world,” Millar said. “Many think of resilience in the context of climate change and natural disaster response, but to me, it is also about the need to prepare for and adapt to changing conditions such as shifting demographics, an aging population that will drive fewer cars, and economic changes such as moving from extraction industries like forestry and mining to technology and software companies.”
Governor Dan McKee (D) recently saluted the Rhode Island Department of Transportation for being the first state agency to fully convert its lighting resources to energy-efficient light-emitting diode or LED lights.
[Above photo by RIDOT]
The LED switchover project – the result of several years of collaboration between the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER) and RIDOT – includes lighting at 23 RIDOT maintenance facilities and the retrofit of over 9,000 streetlights.
Combined, RIDOT said it should save over $1 million a year on electricity costs and an estimated $14 million over the life of these more efficient lighting systems. They also will save nearly 55,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
“I thank RIDOT and OER for their hard work and commitment to conserving energy through this comprehensive conversion to efficient LED technology,” Gov. McKee said in a statement. “In addition to dollars saved, this will contribute to the state’s green energy goals and commitment to meet the goal of the state’s ‘Act on Climate’ while reducing RIDOT’s carbon footprint.”
“This is a journey we have been on for the past several years, first with our streetlights and now with our facilities,” added RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. “We are proud to lead the way with this energy-saving initiative that will not only save money but reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”
Photo courtesy of RIDOT
Gov. McKee noted that OER is spearheading an energy- and emission-reduction effort among state agencies and municipal governments via its “Lead by Example Program.” That program has helped Rhode Island state agencies successfully lower energy consumption by 12.7 percent in 2022 compared to 2014, with 60 percent of state-owned buildings either converted or in the process of converting to LED lighting and 95 percent of state government electricity consumption being offset by renewables.
Other state departments of transportation are deploying LEDs to help reduce energy consumption in different areas.
For example, the Arizona Department of Transportation upgraded the lighting system inside the Interstate 10 Deck Park Tunnel north of downtown Phoenix in March 2021. The agency replaced the “old style” high-pressure sodium lighting system in the Deck Park Tunnel – which originally opened in August 1990 – with 3,200 LED fixtures for a cost of roughly $1.4 million. The agency said the new LED fixtures – expected to last more than twice as long as their sodium predecessors – should result in energy savings worth more than $175,000 per year; savings that, over time, will help pay for the cost of installing the new LED-based tunnel system.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is managing an innovative drainage project that captures storm-water runoff while addressing chronic flooding in a historic, coastal neighborhood.
[Above photo by NCDOT]
Cedar Street in Beaufort, NC, carries two lanes of traffic and off-street parking through a mix of residential and small businesses in this 310-year-old town. Because Beaufort is on the coast, untreated stormwater runoff easily flows into the estuary as the town’s current drainage system can’t hold up to flooding from hurricanes, tropical storms, or even heavy rain.
There isn’t enough room for a larger drainage system, so NCDOT turned to what are called “bio-retention cells” – concrete borders or “bump-outs” along the street that will filter stormwater before it enters the estuary. Those “bump-outs” funnel water to 14 collection areas that resemble planter boxes, where the water will be filtered before it enters a newly rebuilt storm-water main along Cedar Street.
To facilitate drainage, the town of Beaufort will use permeable pavement to rebuild the parking lanes on the street. The pavement should reduce runoff and filter pollutants from getting into the estuary.
NCDOT has used bump-outs before, but not in an urban setting, noted Andrew Barksdale, an agency spokesman. Because of the compact development along the street, the bump-outs seemed like a good application.
Photo courtesy of NCDOT
“The existing infrastructure and development along this road presented a challenge with building a traditional drainage system,” NCDOT engineer Jeff Cabaniss said in a statement. “This alternative system will be better for the environment and also contribute to the beautification of this historic town and improve its water quality.”
Cedar Street was a major thoroughfare before a high-rise bridge just north of the small town claimed the U.S. 70 designation and most of the traffic, but Beaufort still attracts tourists. Locals are proud of the area’s colonial history and are especially happy that ownership of Cedar Street will pass to the town when the project is completed.
“This project is a more economically friendly approach, which helps the town because we have been trying to clean up the estuary,” said Rachel Johnson, a public information officer for Beaufort. “When it’s done, this will be a town-owned project.”
Construction of the bio-retention cells is estimated at $925,000, with the resurfacing about $400,000, NCDOT’s Barksdale noted. The town of Beaufort is using state grant money to rebuild the parking lanes and expects to complete construction on this project by summer.
This is but one of several NCDOT flood-control initiatives occurring statewide.
For example, in May 2022, NCDOT activated a new flood-warning system that relies on a network of 400 river and stream gauges to help analyze, map, and communicate in real-time any flood risks to roads, bridges, and culverts.
That critical information goes to NCDOT maintenance staff responding to flooded roads and washed-out culverts yet also benefits local emergency management officials and the public accessing the department’s DriveNC.gov website for timely weather-related closures. “This state-of-the-art warning system our department has created will help us be better prepared for the next major storm,” explained Eric Boyette, NCDOT secretary, in a statement at the time. “Even though we’ve had some quiet hurricane seasons recently, we cannot let our guard down.”
