The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) took home two America’s Transportation Awards recently at the Southeastern Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (SASHTO) conference in Lexington, Kentucky.

West Virginia won an America’s Transportation Award for Best Use of Technology and Innovation for a medium project for the Interstate 79 widening project, a $72.5 million project to widen heavily traveled I-79 to six lanes from Harrison County almost to the Pennsylvania state line, replacing the twin northbound and southbound South Fairmont West Virginia Arch bridges, each carrying two lanes of traffic, with a single, six-lane span, with minimum impact on traffic on the busy section of interstate. The bridges span the Tygart River near the White Hall exit and expanding the crossing to six lanes will increase the roadway safety for travelers while allowing the community room to grow.

West Virginia won a second America’s Transportation Award for Safety for the Hal Greer Boulevard Bike and Pedestrian Improvement project in Huntington. The $13.5 million redesign of the Hal Greer corridor realigned intersections at 10th Avenue and Charleston Avenue, widened sidewalks, added bicycle lanes, installed new lighting, reconfigured traffic lights, and added greenspace along the Hal Greer corridor, all to help make the area more user-friendly for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists alike.

The two West Virginia winners were selected from 30 projects submitted by 10 states in the SASHTO region. Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and North Carolina also took home America’s Transportation Awards.

Regional winners will go on to compete in the national America’s Transportation Awards, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).