FHWA Announces 1998 Excellence in Highway Design Awards

18 November 1998
FHWA ANNOUNCES 1998 EXCELLENCE
IN HIGHWAY DESIGN AWARDS

        Federal Highway Administrator Kenneth R. Wykle has announced the
winning entries in the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Excellence
in Highway Design Competition.  The competition recognizes excellence in
the design of highways and highway-related facilities and projects that
contribute to a more pleasing highway experience.

        "These award-winning projects demonstrate that transportation
facilities do so much more than simply move people and goods," Wykle
said.  "I am pleased to recognize the ingenuity and skill of  the men and
women who conceive and construct the best of America's highway designs."

        A biennial event since 1980, the competition has attracted over
2000 entries from federal agencies, state and local governments, design
firms, and others which have completed noteworthy highway projects.  The
winners are selected by a panel representing various transportation,
engineering and community interests.

        The 1998 awards, presented during the annual meeting of the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in
Boston, are as follows:

URBAN HIGHWAYS
Excellence Award:       Long Island Expressway / Seaford Oyster Bay
Interchange Improvement Project, New York State Department of
Transportation Region 10.

Merit Award:    Palmetto Expressway Construction, Florida Department of
Transportation.

Merit Award:    Route 509 Relocation, Washington State Department of
Transportation.
RURAL HIGHWAYS
Excellence Award:       Interstate Route H-3, Hawaii Department of Transportation.

Merit Award:    State Route 91 Through Sardine Canyon, Utah Department of
Transportation.

Merit Award:    Reconstruction of Beeline Highway, State Route 87,
Arizona Department of Transportation.

MAJOR STRUCTURES, OVER $10 MILLION
Excellence Award:  Columbus Front Door Project, Columbus, Ind.

Merit Award:    Second Blue Water Bridge, Michigan Department of
Transportation and the Blue Water Bridge Authority.

Merit Award:  Wabashaw Street Bridge, City of St Paul, Minn.

MAJOR STRUCTURES, UNDER $10 MILLION
Excellence Award:  Portland Avenue Bridge, City of Beloit, Wis.

Merit Award:    Five Mile Bridge - Old Stage Road over the Illinois and
Michigan Canal, Grundy County Highway Department.

Merit Award:  Bridgeville, Calif., Bridge Replacement.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENTS
Excellence Award (tie): Falcon Nest Boxes, Virginia Department of
Transportation ;
          Lief Ericson Park Rose Garden, Minnesota Department of
Transportation.

Merit Award:  Beach Lake Mitigation Bank, California Department of
Transportation, District 3.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Excellence Award:  Main Street Bridge,  Pen Yan, N.Y.

Merit Award:    Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, Oregon
Department of Transportation and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

Merit Award:    Bardwell's Ferry Bridge, Conway and Shelburne, Mass.

HIGHWAY RELATED PROJECTS
Excellence Award:  The Grasshopper Bridge, City of Phoenix Ariz.

Merit Award: Earthquake Park Interpretive Facility,  Municipality of
Anchorage, Alaska.

Merit Award:  Cuerno Verde Rest Area, Colorado Department of Transportation.

Merit Award:  Assateague Island Pedestrian Bridge,  Maryland State
Highway Administration.
INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS
Excellence Award:  The AZTECH Partnership, Phoenix Ariz.

Merit Award:  "Trans Port," Portland, Ore.

Merit Award:  E-Z Pass Electronic Toll Collection Program of New York State.

Merit Award:  Trans Guide MDI, Texas Department of Transportation.

INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES
Excellence Award:       Sunset Transit Center / US Route 26 - State Route
217 Interchange, Oregon Department of Transportation and Tri-Met.

Merit Award:  Port of Oakland, California's  Jack London Square Amtrak
Station.

HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS ON PUBLICLY OWNED LAND
Excellence Award:       George Washington Memorial Parkway
Reconstruction, Federal Highway Administration's Eastern Federal Lands
Highway Division and the National Park Service.

Merit Award:    Cumberland Gap Tunnel, Kentucky and Tennessee, National
Park Service.

Merit Award:    Ash River Visitors Center Road, Voyageurs National Park,
Minn., National Park Service.

Merit Award:    General's Highway, Sequoia National Park, California,
National Park Service, and FHWA Central Federal Lands Highway Division.

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