MDOT project in Acme Township named top 12 finalist for 2024 America’s Transportation Award

Fast facts:

• An MDOT project in Acme Township is a top 12 finalist for a national transportation award.
• MDOT installed a center median island and repaved a 1-mile section of US-31/M-72 to address a severe crash pattern, to very positive results.
• Winners will be announced in October.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - TheMichigan Department of Transportation's (MDOT) 2022 high-speed lane separation project on US-31/M-72 in Acme Township has been selected as one of 12 finalists for the 2024 America's Transportation Awards.

Voting is now open for the 12 projects selected through four American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) regional competitions, which achieved the highest scores among 106 nominations from 39 state departments of transportation. Those finalists will now compete for the Grand Prize and the People's Choice Award, which each offer a $10,000 prize for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of the winning DOT's choice.

"We're very proud that this project, which used a relatively small investment to achieve a significant safety benefit, is in the running for this top-tier national award," said State Transportation Director Bradley C. Wieferich, P.E. "This recognition is further testament to the dedication our staff throughout the department has to creative safety solutions and exemplary stewardship of state resources."

To qualify, the high-speed lane separation project on US-31/M-72 in Acme Township won a regional award in the Safety, Small Project category. MDOT invested $1.5 million to build a center median island and repave US-31/M-72 between Holiday Road and Five Mile Road in response to an observed severe crash pattern on the 1-mile segment, which included three fatal and three serious injury head-on and sideswipe-opposite crashes from 2013 to 2017 attributed to high speeds, driver distraction and seasonal adverse weather conditions.

This safety-funded project (overseen by MDOT's Traverse City Transportation Service Center) repurposed the roadway's four-lane, undivided cross-section to add a 6-foot-wide centerline buffer area with intermittent raised median islands. Guardrail, edge-line rumble strips and an inclement weather advance warning system were also installed to help mitigate the crash pattern.

Since completion of the project, data shows speeds have decreased with no fatal or serious injury crashes in that area. Work was completed in fall 2022.

The Grand Prize winner will be selected by an independent panel of transportation experts, while the People's Choice Award will be awarded based on online voting, weighted by state population. Winners will be announced at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in October.

Online voting continues through Tuesday, Oct. 29. Individuals can cast one vote per day, per project.

MDOT's $1.5 million high-speed lane separation project on US-31/M-72 in Acme Township in 2022 included building a center median island and repaving US-31/M-72 between Holiday Road and Five Mile Road.

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