Posts – Page 28 – Environmental Technical Assistance Program Newsletter

Environmental News Highlights – November 30, 2022

Utah DOT Preps Howitzers for Avalanche Control

Crews with the Utah Department of Transportation recently test-fired howitzers used to create controlled avalanches on state routes in the Big and Little Cottonwood canyons; part of the agency’s plan to ensure motorist safety on roads potentially threatened by avalanches, while also protecting said roads from avalanche damage.

[Above photo by the Utah DOT]

“Our goal is to make sure people can travel safely in our canyons throughout the winter,” said Steven Clark, Utah DOT avalanche program manager, in a statement. “We’re always working to keep these vital highways open as much as possible.”

[Editor’s note: A panel discussion held at the 2019 TransComm meeting in Indianapolis stressed that more public outreach on the part of state departments of transportation regarding snow and ice removal operational needs is critical to creating a safer and more efficient highway system during the winter season.]

During the test-firing process, he said crews verify predetermined targets in known avalanche areas. This ensures the agency can fire the howitzers in inclement weather when targets are not visible – using target information confirmed during the test-firing process.

In addition to howitzers, Utah DOT avalanche control methods include explosives placed by hand or dropped by helicopter and ‘Avalaunchers,’ which use compressed gas to launch a small explosive. Agency crews also use remote avalanche control systems or RACS, which are small towers installed on known avalanche paths that use fuel/air mixtures to create small, pinpoint explosions when remotely activated by Utah DOT crews.

Those various tools provide several options for controlling avalanches on the approximately 70 avalanche paths in Little Cottonwood Canyon that cross SR-210, as well as other highways with avalanche risk such as SR-190 in Big Cottonwood and US-189 in Provo Canyon.

“Utah DOT is one of the leaders in transportation avalanche mitigation,” Clark said. “We utilize the newest technologies and are always looking to incorporate new techniques and equipment to ensure safety for all canyon travelers.”

Several state DOTs with mountain roads in their care tap into various avalanche control methods similar to those used by Utah DOT and different techniques.

For example, the Washington State Department of Transportation uses several “passive” control methods to manage snow slides. These include elevated roadways so avalanches pass under them and catchment basins to stop the avalanche before snow reaches the highway. WSDOT also uses use diversion dams and snow berms to keep the snow off the highway, the agency said.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Transportation coordinates with its sister agency, the Colorado Avalanche Information Center or CAIC, to regularly monitor and control 278 of 522 known avalanche paths located above highways across the state. Their joint weather forecasting effort helps prevent avalanches from affecting drivers and passengers on the roads within those avalanche zones.

How Arizona DOT Reuses Materials

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently outlined how it reuses a variety of highway construction materials – such as asphalt, concrete, and steel – to reduce overall transportation project costs and preserve the environment.

[Above photo by the Arizona DOT]

“We reuse as much as we can so nothing goes to waste,” explained Kole Dea, senior resident engineer with the Arizona DOT, in a blog post. “If something can’t go back into the project, then it’s recycled.”

Dea used the I-10 Broadway Curve Improvement Project to highlight how the agency reuses and recycles highway construction materials – both as part of the same project as well as externally on different projects.

For example, when construction began on the I-10 Broadway Curve project in summer 2021, crews removed the rubberized asphalt from the surfaces of I-10 and US 60 in the project area. That work created 1.3 million square yards of asphalt millings, which then formed the base layer for temporary haul roads in the project area. Millings provide a strong base for trucks and equipment to drive on, and they reduce dust – another plus for the environment. Furthermore, the agency mixed those millings with dirt to build embankments to provide additional support to those temporary roadways. Outside of the project area, Arizona DOT said it uses millings on maintenance roads in unpaved areas.

As the agency removes walls and other concrete structures to make way for new construction, they are broken up to serve a new purpose. Arizona DOT said its crews use equipment to break each piece into sizes no larger than 24 inches. Those pieces then become fill material for building up approaches for new bridges. They also fill in holes or otherwise supplement unstable materials in the project area.

The agency also removes steel rebar and other metal materials and takes them to a recycling facility – pointing out that recycled steel is as strong and durable as new steel made from iron ore.

Arizona DOT stressed that it works in compliance with state and federal regulations to ensure all reused materials do not threaten the environment. For example, the agency tests the paint stripes on milled asphalt to ensure it does not contain lead, and that old pipes or bridge structures are free from asbestos.

Several state departments of transportation have reused materials left over from highway and other transportation infrastructure projects for a variety of purposes – especially environmentally focused ones.

For example, in 2021, the Maryland Department of Transportation began oversight of contracts with two Maryland companies to make bricks, pavers, concrete highway barriers, and shoreline supports – among other structures – from dredged material cleared from a shipping channel within the Port of Baltimore.

In addition, in early 2022, the North Carolina Department of Transportation provided more than 1,000 tons of damaged concrete pipe to help the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries shore up two artificial reefs.

Illinois DOT: Using Mowing to Protect Landscapes

The Illinois Department of Transportation recounted in a recent blog post how it changed its mowing practices over the years to better protect roadside landscapes that are vital to pollinators and native planet life.

[Above photo by the Illinois DOT]

The agency has adopted mowing policies to protect the habitat and migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly and other pollinators that use it as a food source. That policy allows for mowing of the state’s roads in a four-year rotation during the summer. Interstate medians are mowed one year, westbound and southbound interstate right-of-ways are mowed the second year, eastbound and northbound interstate right-of-ways are mowed the third year, and non-interstate routes like Illinois 54 are mowed the fourth year. Then the cycle starts over.

However, Andy Stahr, Jay Keigher, and Kip Rutledge – who work for Illinois DOT’s District 3 – enhanced that program by further limiting roadside mowing along Illinois 54, which runs along a railroad right-of-way in Ford County. That encouraged the spread of native prairie plants onto Illinois DOT’s roadsides.

“We didn’t sow native seeds here,” explained Keigher, a maintenance field engineer for yards at Illinois DOT. “These plants spread from the existing remnant prairie on the railroad property. This wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for our new mowing policy. We would’ve mowed 30 feet wide through here and we used to do that. Since we stopped doing that, I’ve seen more and more plants like these moving up our slopes and onto our backslopes.”

However – great as it is to have the railroad’s prairie spread onto Illinois DOT’s land, noted Stahr, a roadside management specialist for the agency – that doesn’t mean the job is done. While it means keeping roadside mowing to a minimum, it still means doing work to maintain what’s now considered a developing prairie.

“It’s going to be a constant problem because you have weeds coming in every direction,” Stahr added. “You’re always going to have spots where Canada thistle pops up. That’s why you can’t completely step away from it. Every once in a while you’re going to see a patch of something and you’re going to have to go in and herbicide it out and you got to reseed that little patch.”

Keigher emphasized that a lack of maintenance threatens this effort. For example, invasive Russian olive trees will block the sun and kill existing plants if left unchecked. That tree also can attract birds that transport invasive seeds through their excrement and re-contaminate the prairie with non-native and invasive plants.

Thus such invasive plants and trees must be mowed down to the ground and destroyed. “You can’t just quit,” Keigher said. “You have to keep maintaining that.”

The goal is to re-develop a prairie ecosystem that is self-sustaining – a three to five year process, Stahr noted.

“Reconstruction means applying herbicide to kill all existing vegetation at the site and scarifying the soil. Then it is managing the land for up to two years by mowing,” he explained.

“Seed also are drilled into the ground to establish a deep root system. Once it’s seeded, we really don’t have to do anything else to make it grow other than keep the vegetation and weeds down for that first year,” Stahr pointed out. “You may be able to let it go the second year if you get a great response. It’s usually the third year that you can let it go and you’ll see everything start to bloom.”

Done right, the prairie polices itself against invasive plants, he said.

“There’s only so much space in the root system,” Stahr noted. “Once you get all these plants living together in such density like this, they interlock their root systems so aggressively that when a weed seed lands in here, there’s nowhere to germinate and grow. That’s why they’re so low maintenance when you get them established.”

While Keigher would love to see every roadside receive this treatment, he prefers to do smaller quarter-mile prairie sections at a time.

“We’re expanding at the rate where we can maintain it,” he pointed out. “We just can’t do it all because we don’t have enough time to take care of it. It’s a lot. We wanted to make sure we’re successful at it before we bite more than we can chew.”

Arizona DOT Highlights Elk Fencing Project

The Arizona Department of Transportation recently highlighted the benefits of its collaboration with the Arizona Game & Fish Department (AZGFD) to reduce elk-vehicle crashes on northbound I-17 south of Flagstaff in a blog post.

[Above photo by Arizona DOT]

In 2011, AZGFD noted a high number of elk-vehicle crashes occurred along a stretch of I-17 near Munds Park. Because a full-grown bull elk can weigh upwards of 700 pounds, crashing into something that large can destroy a vehicle and cause serious injury or death to vehicle occupants, as well as the animal.

In 2012, after a series of studies, AZGFD and the Arizona DOT installed ungulate – “ungulate” means “hoofed mammal” – fencing in four locations near Munds Park on I-17. In most instances, Arizona DOT works crews modified existing right-of-way fences with bolts and barbed wire, eliminating the need for completely new fencing and poles.

This project produced almost immediate results, both agencies said. From the 20 documented elk-vehicle crashes that occurred along this strip of I-17 from 2007 to 2010, only one occurred between 2010 and 2014.

Arizona DOT said this is but one example of the state mitigating wildlife issues through partnerships among multiple agencies. The agency noted it also collaborated with AZGFD to construct wildlife underpasses and elk crossings along State Route 260 east of Payson and desert bighorn sheep overpasses near historic Hoover Dam on US 93.

The wildlife protection efforts undertaken by Arizona DOT are reflective of similar initiatives spearheaded by state departments of transportation nationwide.

For example, in 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 a statement 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.

Meanwhile, the Colorado Department of Transportation recently completed the state’s newest wildlife overpass and underpass on U.S. Highway 160 in the southwestern part of the state, celebrating the accomplishment with a ribbon-cutting event.

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.

On the research front, a report released by an international pool funded study led by the Nevada Department of Transportation in July 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.

Ultimately, the report provides best management practices to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, increase habitat connectivity, and implement cost-effective solutions, Nevada DOT said.

Environmental News Highlights – November 16, 2022

FEDERAL ACTION

The ‘Moonshot’ Project: Creating a New Transportation Vision – AASHTO Journal

Biden takes aim at methane emissions with new rules on oil and gas industry – NBC News

Voters weigh in on transportation issues – Land Line

Can a 10-year federal infrastructure plan really sustain itself for 10 years? – WFED Radio

Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Roadmap for Nature-Based Solutions to Fight Climate Change, Strengthen Communities, and Support Local Economies – White House (Factsheet)

US Announcements Under the Green Shipping Challenge at COP27 – US Department of State (Factsheet)

EPA Takes Action to Address Illegal Destruction of Streams and Wetlands in Missouri and Nebraska – EPA Region 7 (media release)

COVID-19

COVID-19 Reshaped the Work and Mobility Landscape in U.S. Cities – Government Technology

INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY

‘There are places where, if you were starting from scratch, cars wouldn’t make sense’: Pete Buttigieg on redesigning cities – Fast Company

City of Tampa testing solar sidewalk to power traffic intersection – WTVT-TV

Study Finds On-Street Lampost EV Chargers Are Lowest-Carbon Solution – InsideEVs

The Move To Re-Route Interstate 80 Has Hit A Roadblock Because Of The $12.6 Billion Price Tag – Cowboy State Daily

Taking action since Hurricane Sandy: Preparing a climate-ready workforce before the next storm hits – Brookings

California voters reject Proposition 30, the ‘millionaires’ tax for electric vehicles – Sacramento Bee

America’s First All-Electric Transit Agency Isn’t What You Might Expect – CityLab

AIR QUALITY

U.S. will consider new locomotive pollution regulations – Reuters

After spending millions, TARC’s downtown Louisville electric bus fleet sits idle – WDRB-TV

Ports of LA, Long Beach, Singapore collaborate on green shipping corridor – Spectrum News 1

Vanderbilt greenhouse gas emissions drop 19 percent in two years, new sustainability report shows – Vanderbilt University

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Louisiana DOTD’s Wilson: ‘Remain Committed to Equity’ – AASHTO Journal

Charlotte plans an EV sharing service at affordable housing sites – WFAE Radio

NATURAL RESOURCES

In bill gutting wetland protection, lawmakers agreed to a study. It found new law harmful – Indianapolis Star

The benefits of wetlands in Florida – WINK-TV

How beavers could help protect water quality from climate change – Colorado Public Radio

Prairies to preservation: Emerging landscape used to its advantage in maintaining roadsides in Ford County, Illinois – Illinois DOT (blog)

CULTURAL RESOURCES

Utah DOT Releases All Comments On Little Cottonwood Canyon Gondola: There Are Over 13,000 – KSL-TV

HEALTH AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION

Fairfax County, Virginia leaders celebrate new bicycle, pedestrian bridge over I-495 – WJLA-TV

Hawaii DOT Gets Fast and Furious Installing Raised Crosswalks – FHWA Innovator

Flagstaff adopts Active Transportation Master Plan for improved walking and biking – Arizona Daily Sun

From Rails to Trails: The Making of America’s Active Transportation Network – HistoryNet.com (book review)

TRB RESOURCES/ANNOUNCEMENTS

State DOTs Perspective on Pavement Resilience – TRB (Webinar)

Transportation for Veterans Can Use a Blueprint from TRB – TRB

Accessibility Measures in Practice – NCHRP

Accessibility Measures in Practice: A Guide for Transportation Agencies – NCHRP

Language Matters – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lunch & Learn – National Aging and Disability Transportation Center (Webinar)

FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES

Delegation of New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for the States of Arizona and California – EPA (Final rule)

Pipeline Safety: Notice of Availability of the Tier 1 Nationwide Environmental Assessment for the Natural Gas Distribution Infrastructure Safety and Modernization Grant Program – Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Notice)

Tongass National Forest; Alaska; Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Facility Improvements Project – Forest Service (Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental draft environmental impact statement)

Notice of Intent To Amend the Las Vegas Resource Management Plan and Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Copper Rays Solar Project in Nye County, Nevada – Bureau of Land Management (Notice)

Arizona DOT Protects Plants During I-17 Project

As the Arizona Department of Transportation starts work on the I-17 Improvement Project from Anthem Way to Sunset Point, it is taking steps protect the natural landscape along this stretch of scenic highway corridor as well.

[Above photo by the Arizona DOT]

The agency said its work crews are removing native vegetation – including saguaros, palo verde trees and ocotillos – from the 23-mile project corridor to temporary nurseries, before eventually replanting them alongside an improved and wider highway.

Drivers who regularly travel I-17 between Anthem Way and Sunset Point may see some of what the Arizona DOT describes as “plant salvage” work during the next several months. Plant salvage crews from the Kiewit-Fann Joint Venture developer team will collect hundreds of viable native trees, “accents” (such as ocotillos and yuccas), saguaros and other cacti from the construction area. Altogether, roughly two-thirds of the right-of-way along the 23-mile project area will remain undisturbed, meaning no plant salvaging will be necessary.

“October is usually the prime time for salvaging the plant material, just because our temperature is not too hot and not too cold,” said David Casselbury, a landscape architect with Arizona DOT, in a statement. “We’re hoping the general public will enjoy driving along the highway and seeing this plant material back in its natural environment once the project is complete.”

The salvaged trees and cacti are not the only plants returning to the natural landscape once the improvement project is finished, the agency added, as it plans to add native seed mixes and nursery-grown plants to the highway construction area. Those efforts help to achieve the long-term goal of successfully revegetating areas within the construction area considered “landscape-able” with a mix of plants that will thrive and restore the natural environment for years to come.

Restoring native plants has been an integral part of many Arizona DOT projects for more than 35 years, according to the agency.

For example, Arizona DOT spent the last four years relocating a rare and endangered species of cactus growing near the Pinto Creek bridge replacement project along U.S. 60 near Globe-Miami. Initiated in 2018, this relocation effort is the latest step in a long-term partnership between the Arizona DOT and the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix to protect hedgehog cactuses that only grow in one tiny area of the state.

The agency also relies on ‘biomonitor’ teams from Northern Arizona University or NAU to help its work crews find and relocate endangered species – including snakes, birds and fish – from construction sites.

Specifically, those biomonitor teams train construction workers and other 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.

Colorado DOT Building I-70 Wildlife Crossing

The Colorado Department of Transportation recently began work on the I-70 Genesee wildlife-crossing project, one of several I-70 Floyd Hill projects to improve both highway safety and traffic flow ahead of construction on the $700 million main project.

[Above image by Colorado DOT]

The I-70 Genesee wildlife-crossing project consists of a dedicated wildlife underpass going under I-70 between the exits for Lookout Mountain and Genesee. Additionally, crews will place wildlife fencing along both east and westbound I-70 that extends from the Genesee Exit to the Lookout Mountain Exit.

The agency noted that this area has the highest number of wildlife-vehicle collisions on the I-70 Mountain Corridor east of the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel.

“The new underpass at I-70 Genesee is the first major wildlife crossing to be constructed along the I-70 Mountain Corridor, and it will allow wildlife to safely cross underneath the interstate at a location which has historically been a hotspot for wildlife related crashes,” said Colorado DOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew in a statement.

“Reducing animal-vehicle conflicts and improving wildlife connectivity is a major element to the overall improvement of travel time reliability, safety, and mobility in the I-70 Floyd Hill project area,” she added.

The plan calls for construction of two new I-70 bridges, followed by excavation under those bridges to create the wildlife underpass. Once the underpass is complete, crews will install the wildlife fencing. Altogether, bridge and underpass construction should wrap up by the spring of 2024.

To date, Colorado DOT 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, the agency completed the state’s newest wildlife overpass and underpass on U.S. Highway 160 in the southwestern part of the state.

In October 2021, Colorado DOT and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency completed wildlife underpasses along a rural stretch of Interstate 25 between Colorado’s two largest cities, Denver and Colorado Springs.

That wildlife mitigation system is part of a $419 million transportation improvement project – known as the I-25 South Gap project – that aims to improve safety and travel on 18 miles of I-25 south of the Denver metropolitan region; a route that more than 87,000 motorists use on a daily basis.