Oregon Team Earns National Honor for
Highway Teamwork
“Wild West” Town Survives History –and
Major Roadway Reconstruction
Austin, TX/September14, 2005 —The National Partnership for Highway
Quality (NPHQ) said today that its 2005 State Award will go to the Oregon Department
of Transportation, project leader Vivian Payne, and general contractor Johnny
Cat for their work in reconstructing Highway 238 through the heart of historic
Jacksonville, an accomplishment that “balanced the need to construct a roadway
with the needs of this historic, tourist-oriented community.”
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.
Templeton said that the extensive reconstruction work, which ran directly
through the main street of Jacksonville, an intact survivor of the “Wild West” listed
on the National Register of Historic Places, “could not have succeeded as it
did without extensive citizen involvement and cooperation every step of the
way.”
He said that the Citizens Advisory Committee advised and assisted through
all phases of the work, which included rebuilding the existing roadway, installing
a new storm sewer system, and upgrading and repairing sidewalks. Other amenities
also were incorporated, often through stakeholders' input, including lighting
that harmonized with the town's storied past and crosswalk treatments that
suggested the original cobblestones.
Completed in 2004, the project was judged by NPHQ to be superior in areas
such as pavement quality, teamwork, customer focus, innovation, and value.
Templeton added, “Here was a case where the construction schedule, and so
much else, was dictated by the needs of the community. The Oregon team heard
the people of Jacksonville loud and clear and even managed to complete the
major work before the height of the summer tourist season. All of this demonstrates ‘customer
focus' in the best ways possible.”
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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