On the Road to Environmental Excellence

Every 2 years, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) honors outstanding achievements in environmental sensitivity in highway projects through its Environmental Excellence Awards program. Any project that uses Federal highway funds is eligible. This article reports on the winners for 2005, presented in 11 categories. Oregon's Bridge Replacement Environmental Stewardship Program included an environmental baseline report that informed design teams of opportunities to avoid or minimize the environmental impact of individual bridge projects. North Carolina's Scenic Byways program developed a curriculum that provides teachers with a variety of materials to encourage students to explore North Carolina's natural history and culture. To accommodate the growing demand for more mass transit from Eden Prairie, Minnesota to the larger Minneapolis metropolitan area, SouthWest Metro Transit designed a pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented, and environmentally sensitive transportation station. Five centuries of history come alive at South Riverwalk Park, a Trenton, NJ, project built above a reconstructed stretch of road and tunnel. The California Department of Transportation (CALTRANS) and its Federal partners developed an innovative technique to minimize adverse impacts on marine organisms during pile-driving work for the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and other Bay Area seismic retrofits. The North Carolina Department of Transportation established a program that includes research in wetland and stream mitigation, freshwater mussels, genetic isolation of species, wildlife passages, and water quality. Boston's Big Dig (the Central Artery/unnel Project) features an underground roadway that replaces an elevated highway and enhances the compact, walkable character of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. New York State's Department of Transportation's Route 25 project aimed to preserve the natural environment and scenic quality of the village of Greenport in eastern Long Island. Located in west Raleigh, North Carolina, the Reedy Creek Greenway system provides a paved, multistate pathway for bicyclists and pedestrians, connecting residential areas to two college campuses, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Prairie Ridge education center, a university research forest, and a state park. The Colorado Department of Transportation implemented a plan for managing snow on the Berthoud Pass the promotes environmental protection and protects the water quality near the roadways. A final award, that of Excellence in Environmental Leadership, was given to William Ruediger, a longtime advocate of habitat protection and one of the leading practitioners of the emerging science of road ecology. The article concludes with a brief description of the application process for the 2006 awards. The article is illustrated with full-color photographs of most of the projects discussed.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/05nov/01.cfm
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/1586080
• Authors:
  • Cazenas, Patricia A
• Publication Date: 2005-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 2-9
• Serial:
  • Public Roads
  • Volume: 69
  • Issue Number: 3
  • Publisher: Federal Highway Administration
  • ISSN: 0033-3735
  • Serial URL: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/
• Publication flags:

  Open Access (libre)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: City planning; Ecology; Environmental design; Environmental protection; Habitat; Highway design; Landscape architecture; Pedestrian areas; Pollution control; Restoration ecology; Roadside improvement
• Geographic Terms: Boston (Massachusetts); California; Colorado; Minnesota; New Jersey; New York (State); North Carolina; Oregon
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Society; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01016409
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 23 2006 1:08PM