Arizona Wins National Honor for Highway Teamwork
Audubon, Nature Conservancy Among Advisors on Extensive
Environmental Achievements
Austin, TX/September 14, 2005 —The National Partnership for Highway
Quality (NPHQ) announced today that its 2005 State Award will go to the Arizona
Department of Transportation and to its principal partners, general contractor
Meridian Engineering Company, design consultant Aztec Engineering, and environmental
consultant EcoPlan Associates, for their Patagonia Rockfall Public Involvement
and Environmental Mitigation project on Route 82.
Announcing the award was Bob Templeton, executive director of NPHQ, a partnership
among federal, state, and roadway industry leaders and officials whose shared
advocacy of “customer-centered” practices has produced better, safer, more
user-friendly roads and bridges that are completed faster, last longer, and
minimize congestion and inconvenience.
According to Templeton, “Despite meeting with great public opposition at the
beginning, the Arizona team's determination to win public support and involvement
enabled them to improve roadway safety while protecting, and even enhancing,
the uniquely picturesque nature of this area.”
State Route 82, running between Sonoita and Patagonia, is an official Scenic
Byway; along its length trees and water provide both scenic beauty and nesting
sites for many unusual bird species, all of which are favorites both of tourists
and residents of nearby communities.
The public, worried about the bird habitats and initially skeptical of plans
for realigning the highway to control rockfall problems, quickly was won over
through the Arizona team's extensive public involvement and study efforts.
The results: more than 50 measures developed by ADOT to mitigate the potential
social, economic, and environmental effects of the construction.
Through coordination
with local bird enthusiasts, the Study Team, the Audubon Society, the Nature
Conservancy, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, construction activities were limited to avoid the breeding season
of birds nesting in the affected area. So successful was the result—completed in one construction season—that
recommendations for similar operations were distributed statewide.
“The beautification and protection of our environment is increasingly on the
radar screens of highway professionals,” said Templeton, “and this Arizona
project will stand as a classic example of what can be done when the emphasis
remains on innovation, teamwork, and, above all, the customer.”
NPHQ is composed of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association
of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Texas Transportation
Institute, the Foundation for Pavement Preservation, the National Institute for
Certification in Engineering Technologies, the American Highway Users Alliance,
The Associated General Contractors of America, the National Ready Mixed Concrete
Association, Kiewit Corporation, and the URS Corporation.
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