CDOT Recognized for Response to Historic Colorado Flooding

July 15, 2014 - Statewide Transportation - STATEWIDE – The Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT) response to the historic flooding of September, 2013, has been honored by the Western Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (WASHTO) during its annual meeting in Albuquerque, NM.

Specifically, CDOT's flood response was named winner in the medium-sized projects (cost: $26)-199 million) in the Quality of Life/Community Development category.

In September 2013, CDOT rose to meet the most significant challenge it has faced in its 100-year history: a devastating flood that shut down 27 roads on the state highway system and damaged 120 bridges and 242 miles of roadways across northwestern and eastern Colorado.

“This award is a great recognition of a monumental response to a historic event,” said Don Hunt, Executive Director of CDOT. “The teamwork and effectiveness of CDOT’s response to the floods is almost beyond description. We are the department that is in charge of getting our citizens to the store for food, getting them to their jobs, to the game or to school, and ultimately keep them safe on the road—responding was no small task, but became our most important mission.”

The CDOT project now moves into the next round of competition, in which the 10 projects with the highest scores from the regional awards competitions, such as WASHTO, around the U.S. will compete for the national grand prize and People's Choice Award.  The final 10 projects will be announced on Sept. 4. The Grand Prize winner is selected by a panel of transportation experts. The People's Choice Award is presented to the transportation project that receives the most online votes from the public. Online voting will begin on Sept. 4 and the winning state DOT will receive a $10,000 check to be given to a transportation-related charity or scholarship program of their choice.

The WASHTO competition, which encompasses 18 western states including Alaska and Hawaii, showcased projects designed to improve safety, expand mobility, reduce congestion, and provide additional transportation options, all while saving taxpayer dollars. The WASHTO competition included 29 projects entered from 15 of the 18 states.

Nationally, this awards competition that begins in the regional transportation organizations drew record totals of 73 projects from 37 of the 50 United States.  Learn more about all of the nominated projects and the competition at AmericasTransportationAwards.org.