The New York State Department of Transportation recently began construction on a flood resiliency project in Oswego County; part of the state’s Lake Ontario Resiliency and Economic Development Initiative or REDI.
[Above photo via the NYSDOT]
The project, which includes improvements to sections of County Route 89 in the Town of Oswego, received nearly $1.3 million in funding to improve the drainage and enhance public safety by providing a safer roadway that does not require closure due to flooding.
The agency noted that, during the “historic” flooding that occurred in 2019, sections of County Route 89 roadway flooded – cutting off residents from their homes and forcing emergency vehicles to reroute.
As a result, then-Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) created the REDI program in the spring of 2019 to combat an “extended pattern of flooding” along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Five REDI Regional Planning Committees comprised of representatives from eight counties – Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego, Jefferson, and St. Lawrence – work to identify “at-risk” infrastructure and public safety concerns.
The County Route 89 project’s flood mitigation measures also include:
Replacing the existing culvert with a larger culvert to increase drainage;
Reconstruction and elevation of flood-prone sections of the roadway;
Minor profile adjustments to the roadway; and
Installation of new guiderail, signs, and pavement markings.
“By enhancing the resilience of our transportation network with strategic investments like this, we help keep people and goods on the move, despite the impacts of severe weather,” noted NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez in a statement.
Other state departments of transportation are also involved in a range of flood-mitigation efforts.
For example, in May, the North Carolina Department of Transportation 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.
Tennessee DOT Promoting Delta Region via New Partnership
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is expanding its traditional role in the Mississippi River Delta Region from building and maintaining roads to include fighting litter, supporting tourism and promoting economic development.
[Above photo by the Tennessee DOT]
The Tennessee Delta Alliance or TDA, a partnership between Tennessee DOT and the University of Memphis, is the agency’s latest investment in West Tennessee and one which will “benefit generations to come,” explained Butch Eley, the agency’s commissioner, in a statement.
Tennessee DOT provided the university with a three-year, $675,904 grant to kickstart the partnership. Organizationally, the alliance will be part of the university’s Center for Regional Economic Enrichment, the agency said.
The plan is for TDA to eventually manage the roadway and promote economic development in the Delta counties, an area that includes downtown Memphis and economically distressed rural communities, according to Michael McClanahan, transportation manager in Tennessee DOT’s highway beautification office.
“This is really innovative,” McClanahan said. “There are about 200 scenic byways, but this is the first one that will be a Keep America Beautiful affiliate.”
The road along both sides of the Mississippi River is a part of a 3,000-mile route from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. However, the Federal Highway Administration has only added certain portions of that road to its National Scenic Byways program. In 2021, the FHWA did designate the Tennessee portion of the route as an All-American Road for its historic and cultural intrinsic qualities.
The TDA is just getting started, McClanahan added and is trying to hire an executive director to run the byway organization and appoint advisory council members from the counties along the river.
The TDA will be part of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission, a 10-state organization that works to preserve and enhance the cultural and historic aspects of the parkway areas, addresses environmental issues, coordinates marketing materials, and looks for ways to promote regional tourism through events and links to hiking and pedestrian trails.
This is but one of several Tennessee DOT initiatives aimed at helping clean up state waterways and improve aquatic ecosystems.
For example, in March, the agency teamed up with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and other partners to establish a network of 17 “Seabin” automated litter and debris removal devices across the Tennessee River watershed.
Seabin devices work continuously to skim and collect marine debris from the surface of the water. Each receptacle can remove up to 3,000 pounds of marine debris annually, while also filtering out gasoline, oils, and “micro-plastics” from the water.
Grants from the Tennessee DOT and the national Keep America Beautiful organization provided the funds supporting this deployment of the Seabin devices.
Additionally, in April 2021, the agency provided the Tennessee Aquarium grants to establish two new exhibits illustrating how microplastics and other roadside trash can negatively affect the health of the ocean as well as rivers, lakes, and streams.
The new exhibits – housed in the Aquarium’s “River Journey” and supporting the Tennessee DOT’s “Nobody Trashes Tennessee” litter reduction campaign – include actual debris taken from the banks of the Tennessee River.
Maryland DOT, USACE Join Forces on Chesapeake Bay Project
The Baltimore District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Maryland Department of Transportation recently signed a Project Partnership Agreement or PPA to work together on the $4 billion Mid-Chesapeake Bay ecosystem restoration project.
[Pictured left to right in photo above: William Doyle; director of the Maryland Port Administration; Maryland DOT Secretary James Ports, Jr.; and Colonel Estee Pinchasin, USACE Baltimore District commander. Photo by the USACE.]
The PPA outlines the roles, responsibilities, and financial obligations of both partners for the restoration of both James and Barren islands in Dorchester County, beneficially re-using material dredged from the Port of Baltimore approach channels and the Honga River, respectively.
The Mid-Bay project includes restoration of 2,072 acres of lost remote island habitat on James Island and 72 acres of remote island habitat on Barren Island. Habitat may include submerged aquatic vegetation, mudflat, low marsh, high marsh, islands, ponds, channels, and upland areas.
USACE said it received more than $80 million in funding from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act enacted in November 2021 to complete the design and preconstruction activities for this project.
Based on the current schedule, Barren Island may start to accept dredged material as early as 2024 with James Island accepting material sometime in 2030 after finishing construction of dredged material containment facilities at each location.
The Mid-Bay project should wrap up in 2067 – providing more than 40 years of capacity to place almost 100 million cubic yards of dredged material, USACE said.
“It’s an honor to sign this agreement signifying ‘all systems go’ for this critically important project that will provide so many environmental benefits for Maryland,” said Maryland DOT Secretary James Ports Jr., in a statement.
“Rebuilding James and Barren islands will promote wildlife, restore coastal shorelines, and provide us with a long-term placement site for dredged material from port shipping channels, allowing us to accommodate larger ships bringing more cargo and business to Maryland,” he said.
Every year, USACE dredges nearly five million cubic yards of material from the channels and anchorages serving the Port of Baltimore to maintain current depths and widths for safe navigation. Once removed, the material must be contained or disposed of in an environmentally conscious manner.
“With this project, we hope to build upon the success of Poplar Island,” said Col. Pinchasin. “The habitat we restored and created using dredged material is flourishing.”
“We are very excited to work closely with Col. Pinchasin and her outstanding team at the Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District, on this legacy initiative,” added MPA Director William Doyle.
Concurrently, Governor Larry Hogan (R) announced a “historic agreement” to advance a major dredging project at the Port of Salisbury, with dredged material supporting wildlife habitats near that port.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan
A new memorandum of understanding between Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources and Wicomico County will provide for 137,000 cubic yards of material dredged from the port for re-use to benefit over 70 acres on DNR’s Deal Island Wildlife Management Area.
That material will help restore wetlands, preserve natural habitats, and protect infrastructure along the Manokin River to keep pace with rising sea levels.
“The dredging material will be beneficially used and re-used, and the project will provide for local wetlands restoration, and the creation of vital wildlife habitat,” the governor said in a statement. “I want to thank our team at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, along with our partners in Wicomico County, the City of Salisbury, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for working together toward this collaborative solution.”
“As the second largest port in our state, the Port of Salisbury is critically important to our economy, and was at risk due to a severe need for dredging,” said DNR Secretary Jeannie Haddway-Riccio. “This unique partnership is allowing us to complete this necessary project while using the dredge material to the benefit of our wetlands and wildlife.”
The Federal Transit Administration recently issued more than $1.6 billion in grants to transit agencies, territories, and states across the country to invest in 150 bus fleets and facilities.
[Above photo by the MTA]
Funded by the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA enacted in November 2021, that funding should nearly double the number of no-emission transit buses on America’s roadways, according to an FTA statement.
The agency added that, for the first time, 5 percent of that low- and no-emission bus funding would go towards training transit workers on how to maintain and operate clean bus technology.
FTA is providing those bus grant awards through two programs. The first is its Low or No Emission (Low-No) Grant Program, which makes funding available to help transit agencies buy or lease U.S.-built low- or no-emission vehicles, including related equipment or facilities.
The IIJA provides $5.5 billion over five years for the Low-No Program – more than six times greater than the previous five years of funding, FTA said. For fiscal year 2022, approximately $1.17 billion is available for grants under this program.
The second is FTA’s Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program, which supports transit agencies in buying and rehabilitating buses and vans and building bus maintenance facilities. The IIJA provides nearly $2 billion over five years for the program, the agency said. For fiscal year 2022, approximately $550 million for grants was available under this program.
Several state departments of transportation received grants via this round of awards (for a full list of the projects receiving grants, click here). Those include:
The Alaska Department of Transportation, on behalf of the City and Borough of Juneau and Capital Transit, received $2.3 million to rehabilitate and modernize its vehicle storage and maintenance facility.
The Connecticut Department of Transportation received just over $20 million on behalf of the Connecticut Southeast Area Transit District to rehabilitate its Preston transit facility, buy battery electric buses, and launch a training program to help staff operate and maintain zero-emission buses.
The Colorado Department of Transportation received $51 million to support a variety of projects, including $34.7 million on behalf of Summit Stage, a rural transit agency that provides bus service in Summit, Park and Lake Counties in northeast Colorado, to build a bus depot for electrical charging and storage. It will replace Summit Stage’s aging facility and prepare for a 100-percent electric fleet in the future.
The District of Columbia Department of Transportation is getting $9.6 million to help buy battery-electric buses to replace diesel vehicles and increase the size of the Washington, D.C., Circulator fleet.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation gets $23.2 million on behalf of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui counties to buy a mix of zero-emission buses, battery electric buses, and fuel cell electric buses. The agency is also getting a further $12 million to undertake bus stop and facility improvements.
The Iowa Department of Transportation gets $15.8 million for one urban and four rural transit agencies to buy battery electric buses and charging equipment. The agency gets a further $12 million to buy new buses, cutaway chassis, and vans to replace older vehicles for 26 of Iowa’s transit systems.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation gets $4.1 million on behalf of Martha’s Vineyard Transit Authority and Nantucket Regional Transit Authority will receive funding to buy battery electric and propane buses to replace older diesel vehicles.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation gets $3.4 million to buy battery electric buses and charging equipment to replace buses that are part of four rural transit fleets.
The New Mexico Department of Transportation gets $3 million on behalf of the South Central Regional Transit District to buy battery electric buses and charging equipment, provide training and buy property it currently leases. It also gets another $2.5 million on behalf of the South Central Regional Transit District to buy battery electric buses and charging equipment as well as fund staff training.
The Oregon Department of Transportation gets $4.6 million to buy battery electric buses and install three new electric chargers. It gets an additional $2 million for the Sandy Area Metro to buy battery electric buses and install charging equipment, replacing diesel buses that have exceeded their useful life.
The South Dakota Department of Transportation gets over $1 million on behalf of River Cities Public Transit, Community Transit of Watertown/Sisseton, Prairie Hills Transit, and Rural Office of Community Services to buy low-emission propane buses, two propane conversion kits, and install a propane fueling station.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation gets $12 million on behalf of two urban and five rural transit agencies to buy buses and demand-response vehicles to replace older vehicles that reached their useful life.
The Utah Department of Transportation gets over $6 million on behalf of Park City Transit to buy battery-electric buses and charging equipment to expand its express route service in the Quinn’s Junction area.
The Vermont Agency of Transportation gets $9.1 million to buy electric buses and install charging equipment for Marble Valley Regional Transit District in Rutland and Green Mountain Transit in Burlington. VTrans gets a further $3.2 million to build a bus depot for the Marble Valley Regional Transit District.
The Washington State Department of Transportation gets $5.4 million to purchase vehicles for three rural transportation providers, replacing buses that have exceeded their useful life, improving quality of life, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Cycling Group Holding Bike Route Webinar for State DOTs
In this one-hour webinar, the group plans to dive into efforts to expand the U.S. Bicycle Route System or USBRS into a national network for long-distance bicycle travel. State DOTs create specific bicycle routes, with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials providing oversight and Adventure Cycling providing technical support for that process.
[Editor’s note: In February 2021, AASHTO and Adventure Cycling signed a memorandum of understanding or MOU to formalize their 16-year partnership, which seeks to create a 50,000-mile national bicycle network.]
Webinar presenters include:
Jenn Hamelman, Adventure Cycling’s USBRS program manager.
Matt Hardy, AASHTO program director for planning and performance management.
Kyla Elzinga, AASHTO associate program director for planning and performance management.
Meg Fennell, transportation analyst with the New York State Department of Transportation state bicycle and pedestrian unit.
Karen Lorf, NYSDOT state bicycle, and pedestrian coordinator.
Jerry Scott, multimodal data system coordinator for the Transportation Data & Analytics Office at the Florida Department of Transportation.
Adventure Cycling said it would not record the November webinar, which is limited to 40 participants. By contrast, in December, Adventure Cycling plans to hold a second webinar on the USBRS for a wider audience – mainly for any person or group considered a stakeholder in the USBRS designation process – with unlimited audience size.
Maryland DOT Archeologists Excavate Iron Furnace Site
Archaeologists from the Maryland Department of Transportation are helping excavate two small Colonial-era cabins near the historic Elkridge Furnace in Howard County, MD, located on land originally purchased for a highway project.
[Above photo by the Maryland DOT]
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Elkridge iron furnace –– used enslaved, indentured, and convict labor. Its use of slave labor is why it is now part of the U.S. National Park Service’s “Underground Railroad Network to Freedom,” which chronicles the history of slavery in the United States.
Iron furnaces used intense heat to convert iron ore into “pig iron” which could then be made into tools, wagon wheels, and other iron-based products. The white-hot fires required for this conversion made them labor-intensive and dangerous places to work.
This $50,000 archaeological project is a partnership between Maryland DOT and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources or DNR. The Maryland DOT’s State Highway Administration originally owned the land in conjunction with its construction of nearby I-195 but later conveyed it to DNR to save the historic complex.
The excavation team – led by Dr. Julie Schablitsky, Maryland DOT’s chief of cultural resources – uncovered brick floors, stone foundations, and various artifacts. Archaeologists hope to determine the age of the buildings and their relationship to the historic iron furnace.
Dr. Julie Schablitsky, Maryland DOT’s chief of cultural resources, describing finds at the site
“Archaeology is our last chance to understand the lives of these iron furnace workers who endured horrific conditions,” said Dr. Schablitsky in a statement. “We are piecing together their life one ceramic sherd and lost button at a time.”
“This latest partnership between MDOT and DNR shows our shared commitment to collaborate with fellow agencies and the community to discover and preserve one of Maryland’s greatest assets: our history,” added MDOT Secretary James F. Ports Jr.
The agency said any archaeological findings found at the site would become part of “interpretive materials” used by DNR, with the investigation also helping guide DNR’s work to restore the buildings. In the future, DNR and an on-site restaurant – Elkridge Furnace Inn – hope to use the archaeological discoveries to share the history of the site and the lives of the ironworkers with the public.
“As stewards of Maryland’s natural and cultural resources, we are proud to partner with MDOT and support this archaeological work,” DNR Secretary Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio said. “Having this information on the Elk Ridge Furnace site is invaluable as we work to interpret the important history of the Underground Railroad and convey what life was like during our nation’s early Industrial Revolution.”
This effort follows a previous dig conducted by Maryland DOT’s archeological team in 2021 that helped discover a historic home site once owned by the father of famed abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who helped slaves escape north via the Underground Railroad.
The agency’s team discovered the former home of Harriet Tubman’s father, Ben Ross, on property acquired in 2020 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or USFWA as an addition to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Dorchester County, MD.
NCDOT Hydraulics Unit Wins Water Quality Award
The hydraulics unit of the North Carolina Department of Transportation recently won a 2022 Pelican Award from the North Carolina Coastal Federation for its efforts to both protect and improve coastal water quality.
[Above photo by NCDOT]
The Pelican Award honors volunteers, businesses, agencies, and organizations that go “above and beyond” to ensure a healthy North Carolina coast for future generations.
The Federation commended the NCDOT team – one of three winners of Pelican wards this year – for its dedicated advancement of nature-based resilience initiatives, such as its work on the living shoreline project along N.C. 24. That project is part of NCDOT’s effort to make more than 500 miles of coastal roads resilient to storms using nature-based solutions.
“The [NCDOT hydraulics] unit is on the cutting edge of research and advancement of effective stormwater management,” the Federation said in a press release about the 2022 Pelican Award winners.
The Hydraulics Unit has collaborated with the N.C. Coastal Federation for more than 20 years on various projects and educational opportunities.
“We both want to protect our environment, ensure our economy is thriving, and ensure those special areas of our state where people want to visit, work, and play remain accessible,” said NCDOT Hydraulics Engineer Stephen Morgan in a statement.
The unit also received recognition for helping develop the “nature-based” Stormwater Strategies Action Plan released by the Federation and The Pew Charitable Trusts in 2021.
“I want to thank the great work of my staff, who – alongside our partners at the Federation – leveraged resources, expertise, and educational opportunities to make our projects truly successful for all involved,” NCDOT’s Morgan said. “We were very excited to receive the Pelican Award and look forward to continuing our efforts with this important work.”
