The Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) Focus on Bridges program and Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) Vulnerable Road Users Safety Assessment (VRUSA) Tool were named top 12 finalists in the 2025 America’s Transportation Awards competition, sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
In addition, two other MoDOT projects (the Buck O’Neil Bridge and U.S. Route 160 Intersection Improvements), KDOT’s De Soto Local Road Improvements project, and two Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) projects (Infrastructure Hub and the Scribner Bypass and Integrated Levee) won regional awards in the competition.
“The America’s Transportation Awards shine a spotlight on the vital projects state DOTs deliver for their communities to enhance safety, expand mobility for users, deliver a better quality of life for residents and visitors, and keep our economy moving,” said AASHTO Executive Director Jim Tymon. “The America’s Transportation Awards competition continues to show us that state DOTs are able to transform communities in a variety of ways. And as Congress works toward a new federal surface transportation bill, lawmakers need to only look at the tangible benefits that states deliver to their customers through examples like these winners to see why robust federal funding to states is so important.”
This year’s competition received 113 nominations from 35 state departments of transportation nationwide. As top scorers in the Mid-America Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials region, the Focus on Bridges and VRUSA Tool projects advanced to the next round of the competition.
The top 12 now compete for two final awards. The Grand Prize will be chosen by an independent panel of judges, while the People’s Choice Award will be decided through online voting, weighted by state population. The public can vote once per day until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on November 17, 2025, at americastransportationawards.org.
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AASHTO will reveal winners of the Grand Prize and People’s Choice awards at its annual meeting in November 2025. Each winner will receive a $10,000 cash award for a charity or transportation-related scholarship of their choice.
The program was launched in 2019 to repair or replace 250 of the state’s worst-condition bridges — most located in rural, agriculture-dependent areas. Their failure would force lengthy detours for school buses, farmers, and commercial traffic, disrupting daily life and economic activity. In addition, the program included structures like the Lance Corporal Leon Deraps Interstate 70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport, Missouri, which plays a national role as an essential freight corridor.
“Many things from financial, legislative, and tactical perspectives all came together to launch the Focus on Bridges program and see it to completion,” said Mark Croarkin, Assistant Chief Engineer for MoDOT.
When former Gov. Mike Parson took office in 2018, he made it a top priority to implement solutions for Missouri’s aging infrastructure. The Focus on Bridges program began with a $50 million appropriation from general revenue by the Missouri General Assembly in 2019. Additionally, MoDOT received an $81.2 million Infrastructure for Rebuilding America grant for the I-70 Rocheport Bridge, which triggered another $301 million in bonding revenue for the Focus on Bridges program, also approved by the state legislature.
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But where to start? “Missouri has over 10,000 bridges, with over 800 of those in poor condition,” Croarkin said. “To narrow the focus to something manageable, Gov. Parson and MoDOT targeted the 250 worst-condition bridges in the state for either repairs or replacement.”
However, the rural location of many of those bridges created challenges in planning and construction.
“Not only do these communities need reliable infrastructure to move things like cattle and crops on a consistent basis, but often detour options are scarce,” Croarkin said. “If a bridge were to close, the detours created tend to be long and can have a negative impact on the local economy. The same holds true for construction. As the improvements were made, constant communication had to take place with the citizens in the affected communities.”
MoDOT divided the work into multiple contracts, grouping together bridges in certain areas to maximize competitive bidding and design efficiencies. Ultimately, all 250 bridges were improved within four years at a cost of $351 million.
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“The [VRUSA] tool was developed by the Kansas Department of Transportation to help local governments address a concerning trend: increasing pedestrian and cyclist fatalities, despite an overall reduction in fatal crashes,” said Vanessa Spartan, KDOT’s Chief of Transportation Safety. “KDOT found that over 85 percent of these crashes occurred on local roads. The tool was created to provide local government staff, who lacked the time and resources, with a streamlined, data-driven way to identify high-risk areas and advance safety solutions.”
An interactive dashboard helps local agencies in multiple ways, Spartan said. “It allows users to pinpoint high-risk areas, explore crash data, and prioritize projects. The tool helps communities move from problem identification to securing funding and starting construction, and local staff have also found that it can serve as a catalyst for economic development.”
Launched in May 2024, the VRUSA Tool cost around $734,000 to develop and already spurred over $40 million in new safety investments across the state, including new sidewalks, improved crossings, and enhanced bike infrastructure.
“The tool helped generate a record number of applications for our funding programs, showing that communities are eager to make these critical safety improvements,” Spartan said. “It's been a game-changer, and we're proud that it helped Kansas climb in national bike-friendliness rankings.”
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This $79 million effort was launched in response to Panasonic’s 2022 selection of De Soto, Kansas, for the largest economic development project in state history. As KDOT’s first progressive design-build project, it delivered critical infrastructure ahead of the plant’s spring 2025 opening, enabling early site access and unlocking the 9,035-acre Astra Enterprise Park for future development. The project also preserved community access to local ball fields and a 57-acre nature park, balancing economic expansion with quality of life.
The upgraded corridor now supports efficient travel, safer routes for pedestrians and cyclists, and better freight access for businesses. As development accelerates, the new infrastructure provides the capacity and flexibility needed for continued growth, advancing De Soto’s vision of a connected, prosperous, and livable community.
The John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil Memorial Bridge project was driven by the need to replace aging infrastructure and improve traffic flow between downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and northern communities. The $220 million project — which included a $25 million federal BUILD grant — addressed deteriorating bridge conditions, outdated street connections, inadequate pedestrian and bike access, and misaligned commuter and local traffic patterns.
During construction, strategic detours maintained access to key locations like the airport and fire department. The project team also coordinated with the city to accommodate major events including a Big 12 tournament, National Football League draft, and Super Bowl parade. The completed project improved mobility for all modes of transportation, with a shared-use path across the river featuring lighting and murals that celebrate local history.
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This project addressed high traffic volumes and frequent crashes at the junction of U.S. Route 160 with Christian County Routes CC and AA in Nixa, Missouri. MoDOT chose a continuous flow intersection design for the Route 160/Route CC location and a continuous green-T intersection at the Route 160/Route AA location. These innovative designs optimized traffic movement, reduced congestion, and enhanced safety. With a total cost of $12.4 million, the project included $9.3 million of IIJA funding. Without the federal funding, MoDOT said they would not have been able to complete the project.
Part of U.S. 275 expansion, this $180 million project in Scribner, Nebraska, improved traffic flow and flood protection. Previously, the outdated, two-lane roadway — the only highway in the state with a fully integrated levee — faced frequent delays and detours, especially during floods.
To meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standards, NDOT incorporated special materials and features like floodgates and custom piping. The project also leveraged advanced, two-dimensional hydraulic modeling to better understand the floodplain and improve both protection and highway function. The new design improved daily travel with reduced congestion and more reliable access for rural communities, while also protecting nearby homes and businesses from flood damage.
The Infrastructure Hub (iHub) helps both NDOT and local public agencies — such as cities and counties — compete for federal discretionary funds for infrastructure projects by offering resources and guidance to navigate complex federal programs. iHub already assisted more than 55 public agencies with 40 active projects.
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Prompted by the IIJA’s shift that allows local public agencies to directly receive federal funds, iHub addressed the gap in grant writing and project delivery expertise that left rural communities unable to compete. Costing $2.3 million, the grant-matching portal and project feasibility tool helps communities build safer, more connected, sustainable transportation systems.
