After a six-month search process, the Oregon Transportation Commission selected Kris Strickler (seen above) to be the next director of the Oregon Department of Transportation. Currently the agency’s highway division administrator, Strickler joined the Oregon DOT in 2018 after serving as the southwest region administrator for the Washington State Department of Transportation as part of […]

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded autonomous vehicle or AV research funds to three states this week – Ohio, Michigan, and Virginia – to boost further study of AV operation in rural areas, on city streets, and in the trucking industry. [Above photo from the Transportation Research Center.] An Ohio-based team of industry, academia, and […]

The Nebraska Department of Transportation is planning to spend $782 million on a variety of transportation projects outlined in its 2020 Construction Program, released on September 10 for public comment. [Above photo by Jake Daniels for the Nebraska DOT.] That includes $153 million in “emergency expenses,” added Nebraska DOT Director Kyle Schneweis in a statement […]

The Maryland Department of Transportation revealed a 299-page draft of its Fiscal Year 2020-2025 capital investment program for transportation infrastructure on September 10, with the agency noting in the report that it plans to invest $15.3 billion over the next six years in a variety of projects aimed at “improving access to jobs as well […]

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) (seen above, touring the newly-opened Kosciuszko Bridge) said during a Labor Day Parade press event on September 7 that he will advance legislation to make the “New York Buy American” Act permanent; a law that requires all structural steel and iron used in all state road and bridge construction projects with […]

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is providing $75 million through its Multimodal Local Supplement grant program to provide municipal and tribal governments with the “flexibility and funding” for addressing a range of local-level transportation needs. “The MLS program gives counties, towns, villages, and cities the opportunity to apply to fund multimodal projects that will provide significant economic […]

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will be accepting applications via Multimodal Transportation Fund through November 8 to fund roadway, bridge, and transit projects, along with park and ride facilities, sidewalk, crosswalk safety improvements, and bicycle lanes. “The Multimodal Transportation Fund creates opportunities for local projects that may have otherwise had difficulty moving forward,” PennDOT Secretary […]

Caring for the Caldecott Tunnel that provides a critical link for State Route 24 between Oakland and Orinda in Alameda and Contra Costa counties requires nearly round-the-clock work. In the video below, the California Department of Transportation provides a behind-the-scenes look at the maintenance operations occurring at night in the tunnel – including cleaning and […]

Governor Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Adetokunbo “Toks” Omishakin to be the new director of the California Department of Transportation on September 3. He replaces Acting Director Bob Franzoia, who has held the position since former director Laurie Berman retired June 29 after a 36-year career with the agency. The governor noted in a statement that […]

The five-member Texas Transportation Commission approved the $77 billion 2020 Unified Transportation Program or UTP submitted by the Texas Department of Transportation on August 29; a 326-page plan that will guide the agency’s transportation strategy over the next decade. The plan also contains more than $4 billion specifically targeted towards safety improvements, including an extra […]