ENR Northwest has chosen the Washington State Dept. of Transportation (WSDOT) as the 2024 Owner of the Year. The 119-year-old agency oversees more than 20,000 lane miles of roadway, 3,000 vehicular bridges and an array of rail lines, ferries and airports.

The agency has earned this year’s honor with a recent history of successful big-ticket projects and a stout list of major efforts in the pipeline. In recent years, the agency has unveiled a number of major projects including the 2019 opening of the $3.29-billion SR 99 tunnel (part of the Alaskan Way Viaduct Program) and the 2016 rebuild of the world’s longest floating bridge, part of State Route 520. 

WSDOT continues moving forward with hundreds of active projects, including revival projects on Interstate 5 through Seattle, wrapping up the $3.35-billion Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project, continued bridge work associated with the $4.91-billion SR 520 Program, mountain pass projects as part of the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass phasing and major additions in the I-405/SR 167 Project program.

In 2023, WSDOT replaced the Winona Trestle two months after a wildfire destroyed it and now continues the Fish Passage Program to correct barriers to fish to reach natural habitat. As of June, 114 fish barriers were corrected, opening 502 miles of fish habitat, and the program is on track to have roughly 300 corrections under construction contract by December, which will complete about 80% of the needed work.

You can read more about WSDOT in the April issue of ENR California & Northwest.