Utah DOT Safety Director Wins AASHTO Award
Several state DOTs brought home top honors from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' 2010 Annual Meeting.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' 2010 Annual Meeting included a number of awards, including an Administration award to Kevin Keith, interim Missouri DOT director, and a Highway Traffic Safety award to the Idaho Transportation Department's 511 Team, a six-person unit that works hard to provide real-time traffic information to motorists in the state, according to AASHTO.
The association's Nov. 4 news release said Keith developed a new standard known as "practical design" when he was Missouri DOT's chief engineer. That standard "has saved Missouri taxpayers $500 million and its emphasis on systemwide safety has contributed to the lowest traffic death count on the state's highways since 1950."
Robert Hull, director of Traffic and Safety at the Utah DOT, received the Alfred E. Johnson Achievement Award. "Hull has been instrumental in directing Utah's successful efforts toward safer roads," according to AASHTO. "He has taken a collaborative approach to improving traffic safety, uniting the labors of Utah's traffic engineers, law-enforcement agencies, safety educators, and emergency responders."
The New York State DOT GreenLITES team won the Environment award. This team created several tools that advance its department's alignment of sustainability efforts in planning, design, operations, and maintenance, according to AASHTO.