ST. LOUIS – A bi-state partnership aimed at transforming access into and around the city of St. Louis has garnered recognition from regional transportation officials.
Yesterday, the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials announced the Illinois and Missouri departments of transportation were joint regional winners in the “Quality of Life/Community Development, Large Project” category in the 2019 America’s Transportation Awards. The recognition was for the departments’ efforts over the past decade to improve access to the city of St. Louis downtown.
Between the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge project, the Park over the Highway at Gateway Arch Park, the Martin Luther King connection to Illinois Route 3 and the widening of the Poplar Street Bridge, the two transportation departments have improved the flow of traffic into and out of downtown. This, in turn, has reduced congestion levels and improved overall safety for travel between Illinois and Missouri. It also provides alternate routes for drivers during construction or incidents on Mississippi River bridges.
As a regional winner, the joint effort will be considered for the 2019 America’s Transportation Awards Top 12 – the top 12 transportation projects in the United States for the year, announced in late August. If selected, the project will compete for the Top Project and People’s Choice awards. That award will be announced at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials annual meeting, held this year in St. Louis in October.
Sponsored by AASHTO, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the America’s Transportation Awards competition was showcases projects delivered by U.S. departments of transportation every year to share the importance of transportation. Now in its 12th year, projects nominated in this competition make communities stronger, improve the economy and enhance quality of life while they use innovations to get projects done faster and more efficiently.
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