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The January/February 2025 issue of Innovator, the bimonthly newsletter of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), kicks off the new year by recognizing the efforts of several No Boundaries member states.

The Colorado Department of Transportation was commended for its commitment to using and requiring environmental product declarations, which describe the environmental impacts of construction materials like a nutrition label does for food.  

Virginia DOT was lauded for its use of a multi-faceted variable speed limit system that monitors road conditions and automatically adjusts a road’s posted speed limits, reducing crashes in foggy conditions by more than 75 percent.

Indiana and Michigan DOTs were each awarded federal Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration grants during the program’s 2023 cycle. Indiana will use the funds to pilot a work zone safety initiative that automatically detects and photographs speeding vehicles in active construction work zones. Michigan, which received grants for two projects, will incorporate innovative materials and cost-effective and structurally efficient methods to replace two aging bridges in the state.

Finally, New York State and North Dakota DOTs were both noted for their innovative projects. New York is working to reconnect communities that were severed by a viaduct in the 1950s, and to provide jobs to local workers interested in the project. North Dakota recently published a study showing the safety benefits of roundabouts and other lower-conflict intersection designs.

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Image source: FHWA

To support the establishment and health of pollinator populations across the state, the Tennessee Department of Transportation launched a research project to increase pollinator habitats along the state’s highways.

After conducting a spatial analysis of the soils and topography along the state’s 14,000 miles of roadway, researchers identified suitable plants and developed a list of strategies for maintaining these sensitive areas.

Read the report: Beautifying Tennessee’s Roadways and Enhancing its Ecology by Strategizing Pollinator Habitat Potential, November 2024

Image source: Tennessee Department of Transportation

Mowing roadside areas can be hazardous when tall grasses obscure items such as propane cylinders, intravenous needles, chemicals, or even people.

To make the task safer for its maintenance crews, the Oregon Department of Transportation initiated a research project to develop a hazard mitigation system prototype that can warn operators when objects or people are in the mower’s path.

Read the report: Hazard Mitigation System for Tractor Mowers, 2024.

Image source: Virginia Department of Transportation

When it comes to maintaining a state’s transportation system, having data about how and when each infrastructure assets were built is critical. Key details, such as installation date and location, materials used, structure dimensions, and condition, are much more cost-effective to collect while the asset is being constructed than to go back and find after it’s already built.

To maximize efficiency and ensure that the necessary information is collected at the right time, the South Carolina DOT developed a best practices guide that notes the necessary data and the tools, technologies and strategies for collecting them.

Read the report: Best Practices on Collecting Asset Information from the Construction Stage, March 2024.  

Image source: Nebraska Department of Transportation

Roads often intersect with animals’ migratory patterns, creating dangerous conditions for some small creatures such as salamanders, toads and frogs, which are often slow-moving and too small for drivers to see.

As standard practice along its highways, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) builds small animal crossings into its highways to allow safe passage beneath the roadway. However, the distance between crossings and other factors can affect whether the creatures make it to the crossing point or give up too soon. To increase the probability that these at-risk animals will make it to – and continue through – the crossing points, Caltrans conducted a research study that identified a promising and cost-effective solution to support the state’s amphibian and reptile populations.

Read the final report: Roadway Crossings for Sensitive Amphibians and Reptiles: Phase II, October 2024.

Image source: Caltrans

Leaves, trash and other debris often accumulate along highway roadsides. Keeping these pollutants from clogging the highway’s drainage system is an important maintenance activity, but drains located in the road’s barrier wall can be challenging and hazardous for crews to keep clean.

To identify the most effective devices and debris management practices available, the Ohio Department of Transportation initiated a research study that evaluated a wide range of tools and techniques for keeping large items out of the state’s storm sewers.

Read the report: Benefit Analysis of Barrier Inlet Screens, May 2024

Image source: Ohio Department of Transportation