Parsons’ Sand Creek Byway Project Wins America’s Transportation Award

Project Recognized in Ahead of Schedule Category

PASADENA, CA – Parsons is pleased to announce that the U.S. Highway 95 Sand Creek Byway project received an America’s Transportation Award for the WASHTO Region—which includes the 18 western states—in the Ahead of Schedule, Medium Project category. The project—a new 2.1-mile-long alignment, routing U.S. Highway 95 around the City of Sandpoint, ID—was submitted by the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).

Parsons served as the general contractor for this multiple award-winning project. Parsons’ $112 million contract included the construction of four steel-girder bridges—two of which pass over navigable waters—and required extensive soil stabilization measures, erosion control measures, and mitigation of stormwater runoff into waterways.

The U.S. Highway 95 Sand Creek Byway opened—ahead of schedule—in July 2012, creating a safer, less congested, and more direct route for commerce to the Canadian border. Before the byway was opened, vehicles had to navigate through the main business district, traffic lights, and three 90-degree turns. Vehicles now travel adjacent to an operating railroad, a historic railway depot, operating commercial buildings, Sand Creek, Lake Pend Oreille, and nesting areas for bald eagles.

“Congratulations to the Idaho Transportation Department and the entire project team for this well-deserved recognition,” said Todd Wager, Parsons Group President. “Sand Creek Byway is an important part of Sandpoint’s infrastructure, and we are proud to have contributed to this outstanding project.”

The America’s Transportation Awards was created in 2008 by The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the American Automobile Association (AAA), and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to recognize America’s best transportation projects in three main categories: Ahead of Schedule, Under Budget, and Best Use of Innovation. Now in its 6th year, the competition has highlighted hundreds of projects across the nation.

The top 10 projects with the highest overall scores will be announced in early September. Finalists will compete for the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Awards. The Grand Prize winner is selected by a panel of transportation experts while the People’s Choice Award is given to the project earning the most online votes. The winning state DOTs each earn a $10,000 prize to support a non-profit organization.

The Sand Creek Byway project has received numerous awards, including a National Recognition Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) in its 2013 Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) Competition, and 1st place winner in the ACEC Idaho 2013 EEA competition, where it also received the Grand Concept Award. In addition, the project received two 2013 Excellence in Transportation Awards from ITD for both design and construction. ITD’s video about the project can be viewed on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzrnJ3WNBA4&list=PLAAC41539D592731F&index=22.

Parsons, celebrating nearly 70 years of growth in the engineering, construction, technical, and professional services industries, is a leader in many diversified markets with a focus on transportation, environmental/infrastructure, and defense/security. Parsons delivers design/design-build, program/construction management, and other professional services packaged in innovative alternative delivery methods to federal, regional, and local government agencies, as well as to private industrial customers worldwide. For more about Parsons, please visit www.parsons.com.