FHWA provides $7.1 million in grants for innovative traffic safety improvements

Updated Aug 28, 2015
Distribution of AID projects across the U.S.Distribution of AID projects across the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is providing $7.1 million in grants to seven states and the National Park Service by way of the agency’s Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration program to be used for “cutting-edge” traffic safety improvements.

“This country’s transportation needs continue to grow, and we need to adapt our infrastructure accordingly, by accelerating the use of new technologies and approaches,” FHWA Administrator Gregory Nadeau said.

The AID Demonstration program has doled out 38 grant awards at a value of $27 million since February 2014. The total to be invested through the program is $45 million.

The programs receiving AID Demonstration grants include:

Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)

$1,000,000

“FDOT’s AID grant will be used to help develop and deploy a statewide commercial parking system. FDOT intends to deploy the system beginning with the I-95 and I-4 corridors and expects to provide reliable, real-time information about commercial vehicle parking availability at rest areas and weigh stations to dispatchers and drivers.”

Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT)

$1,000,000

“KDOT’s AID grant will be invested in a Construction Management System to make use of “e-Construction,” an innovation supported by FHWA under EDC. The transition from a paper-based approach to e-Construction will allow KDOT to update its  business processes, capture data in the field more efficiently, improve data accuracy and provide information sooner by speeding up the transfer of field diaries from once per week to every day.”

Montana Department of Transportation (MDT)

$816,000

“MDT will invest its AID grant in a systems engineering analysis process on several corridors in the state’s seven largest urban areas to make the most informed and effective improvements to Montana’s signal control technology.”

New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT)

$355,000

“NHDOT is investing AID funds to deploy a sensor network at the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, NH. The bridge monitoring technology will be used to create a self-diagnosing, self-reporting smart infrastructure. The project will be the Granite State’s first case where structural, traffic and environmental monitoring programs will be integrated.”

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Rhode Island DOT (RIDOT)

$1,000,000

“RIDOT will use its AID grant to use Warm-Mix Asphalt and Intelligent Compaction (two EDC innovations supported by FHWA) on SR 102 highway improvement project in the towns of Coventry and Foster.”

RIDOT and the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC)

$996,000

“RIDOT and RIAC will use AID funds to install seven Adaptive Signal Control (ASC) devices along nearly 2 miles of Airport Road near the T.F. Green Airport in Warwick. RIDOT and RIAC expect the ASC technology, an innovation supported by FHWA under EDC, will improve traffic management and safety for all area drivers.”

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)

$1,000,000

“WSDOT will use AID funds to install a Light-Emitting Diode (LED) adaptive roadway lighting system on a 7-mile section of I-5 through the core of the capital, Olympia, in order to accelerate conversion to LED and adaptive LED systems statewide. The use of the technology is expected to provide significant improvement from WSDOT’s conventional practice, since LED lights have a relatively low life-cycle cost and result in an estimated 60-70 percent reduction in energy consumption and maintenance costs.”

Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) and Dodge County

$676,000

“WisDOT and Dodge County will use its grant to deploy the Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil – Integrated Bridge System, an innovation supported by FHWA under EDC, on two locally owned bridges.”

National Park Service (NPS)

$296,800

“AID funds will be used by the NPS to develop safety analysis capabilities — an effort supported by FHWA under the EDC Data-Driven Safety Analysis innovation – within the Transportation Safety Information Management System. The expected improvement in roadway safety data is part of a larger plan to develop a crash analysis system within the NPS system.”

More information about FHWA’s AID Demonstration program is available at www.fhwa.dot.gov/accelerating/grants.