Good things are happening at the N.C. Department of Transportation, and people are noticing.
I’m proud to announce the department received two national awards last Saturday night at the National Transportation Public Affairs Workshop in Boise, Id. NCDOT won “Best Photo” for an image of crews working hard to stabilize the mountains above I-40 in Haywood County after a rockslide shut down the road near the Tennessee state line last October. The department also won “Best Public Involvement Plan” for its Driving 95 campaign, which is currently under way and relies on broad public input to determine what type of improvements are needed along aging I-95 and how those improvements could be funded. It’s a great example of how NCDOT is trying to better engage citizens in an open and transparent way.
A NTPAW site selection committee also picked NCDOT to host the national conference in Raleigh in 2012. The department competed against four other states for the honor. The judges found NCDOT offered the breadth of expertise and the resources necessary to educate transportation communicators on the latest developments in their profession.
I congratulate for NCDOT for its great work and look forward to welcoming members of other state DOTs to North Carolina in 2012.