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Multimillion-dollar road projects by Ill., Mo., Ga. win AASHTO awards | Dump Truck Company

Work on Poplar Street Bridge

A collaboration between the Illinois and Missouri departments of transportation to improve infrastructure in downtown St.

Louis won the grand prize in the 2019 America’s Transportation Awards.

The awards were presented at the recent annual meeting of the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, held in St. Louis.

The $801 million St. Louis project involved relocating an interstate to the new four-lane Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge, to take pressure off the Poplar Street Bridge. The older bridge also got new lane ramps and an extra lane between St. Louis and St. Clair County, Illinois. The change allowed for 30 percent more traffic to enter St. Louis to boost economic development and tourism, according to AASHTO.

People’s Choice Award

The Georgia Department of Transportation’s Northwest Corridor Express Lanes project won the People’s Choice award by getting the most online votes.

The six-year, $834 million project added two lanes to Interstate 75, one lane to I-575, improved bridges and added six new express interchanges. Overall, the project added about 30 miles of toll lanes.

Each of the prizes comes with $10,000 cash to go to the charity or transportation-related scholarship program of the winner’s choice.