2026 Transportation Engineering Awards Showcase the Best of Virginia Transportation Design
The Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance’s 2026 Transportation Engineering Awards once again demonstrate the breadth, creativity and impact of transportation engineering throughout the Commonwealth. This year’s competition recognized projects ranging from highway safety improvements and major interstate construction to pedestrian facilities, multimodal corridors and community planning.
Presented annually by VTCA’s Engineering Consultant Leadership Committee (ECLC), the Transportation Engineering Awards recognize outstanding design work in Virginia’s transportation industry. Eligible projects must be located in Virginia, managed by a Virginia office, and have had the major portion of the consultant work performed in the Commonwealth. This year’s awards were presented September 1 at the VTCA-VDOT Consultant Forum in Richmond.
The 2026 competition included awards for Design-Bid-Build projects under and over $20 million, Design-Build projects under $20 million, from $20 million to $100 million, and over $100 million, as well as a Best Planning Study or Project. The program also provided opportunities for special recognition in Sustainability & Environmental Stewardship, Innovation, Community Impact and Public Partner categories.
Safety, Mobility and Community Benefit
The 2026 Outstanding Transportation Project—the overall winner—was the Route 17 – Woods Cross Road/Davenport Road Roadway Improvements R-CUT project in Gloucester County, submitted by Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson (JMT). The project was developed through the Highway Safety Improvement Program to improve the intersection of Route 17 and Route 610 by converting it to a Restricted Crossing U-Turn (R-CUT) intersection.
The project illustrates one of the fundamental goals of transportation engineering: improving safety by applying sound design principles to a specific operational problem. By reducing the number of conflict points where vehicle paths intersect, the project sought to reduce crash risk while improving the operation of the intersection.
The project earned the Winner designation in the Design-Bid-Build Less than $20 Million category, the Design-Bid-Build Grand Prize and, ultimately, the 2026 Outstanding Transportation Project award.
JMT also submitted another major project recognized in the competition: the I-95 Northbound Collector-Distributor Lanes Rappahannock River Crossing. This Design-Build project, in the greater than $100 million category, added approximately five miles of lanes, a new bridge and a replacement bridge. Separating local and through traffic reduced weaving and improved traffic flow, while work-zone and long-term safety improvements enhanced the reliability of the corridor.
The I-95 project was named the Design-Build winner in the greater than $100 million category and received the Design-Build Grand Prize. It also received Special Recognition for Community Impact and for Public Partner in the VDOT Fredericksburg District.
Engineering for Complex Corridors
Several other projects recognized this year demonstrate the increasingly complex environments in which transportation engineers work.
The Nash Road Extension in Chesterfield County, also submitted by JMT, created a new roadway connection between Beach Road and Route 10. The project included planning, design, public involvement, construction support and archaeological services. The team also had to respond to the unexpected discovery of a historical cemetery during project development. The project received an Honorable Mention in the Design-Bid-Build Greater than $20 Million category.
MBP received the Design-Bid-Build Greater than $20 Million award for the Hanover County Route 360 Widening Project. The $36 million project improved safety, mobility and accessibility along one of Hanover County’s busiest corridors. MBP provided construction management from preconstruction through closeout, addressing utility conflicts, maintaining traffic and minimizing impacts on motorists, pedestrians, businesses and schools.
In Prince William County, Rinker Design Associates received an Honorable Mention for the Route 234/Brentsville Road Interchange Improvements Design-Build project. The project transformed two signalized bottlenecks into a safer, free-flowing, multimodal interchange. Continuous Green-T movements, a compressed project footprint, a pedestrian bridge and shared-use connections were among the features used to address congestion and community mobility.
Meanwhile, Wallace Montgomery received the Design-Build $20 Million to $100 Million award for Transportation Improvements at Hydraulic Road and US 29 in the Charlottesville-Albemarle area. The project included a landmark pedestrian bridge, a modern roundabout, improvements to US 29 operations and stronger multimodal connections among Hydraulic Road, US 29 and Route 250.
Innovation and Sustainability
The awards also recognize that successful transportation projects increasingly must address environmental stewardship, technology and innovative delivery—not simply capacity and pavement.
The 18th Street Corridor Improvements project, submitted by Clark Nexsen, a JMT Company, received an Honorable Mention in the Design-Bid-Build Less than $20 Million category as well as Special Recognition for Sustainability & Environmental Stewardship. The comprehensive streetscape project incorporated sidewalks, crosswalks, seating, street trees, bike racks and lighting, along with distinctive artistic elements such as gateway markers, custom artist canvases and sculptural benches.
Kimley-Horn and Associates received an Honorable Mention for the Route 288 Southbound to Route 360 Westbound Off-Ramp Improvement and Park-and-Ride project in Chesterfield County. The project transformed a high-crash bottleneck into a safer, more efficient multimodal corridor. The deceleration lane was extended six-fold, the ramp was widened to two travel lanes, and innovative design saved approximately $2 million. The project also pioneered construction safety technology that subsequently became the VDOT Richmond District standard.
Timmons Group’s 7th Street Pedestrian Bridge and Ramp Widening project received an Honorable Mention as well as Special Recognition for Innovation. The project involved planning, analysis and design at the 7th Street/I-95 interchange in Richmond and supported VCU Health’s campus expansion. Advanced modeling, interchange access approvals and multimodal design were used to address the complexities of an urban interchange.
Looking Beyond the Roadway
The 2026 awards also underscore the important role engineers play in creating transportation systems that serve more than motorists.
The Fall Line Trail – Northern Section, submitted by Timmons Group, received the Design-Build Less than $20 Million award. The trail crosses a highly constrained corridor between Hanover and Henrico counties, encountering wetlands, historic resources, utilities and multiple jurisdictions. Delivered by VDOT with Branch as Design-Builder and Timmons Group as Lead Designer, the project demonstrates how innovative delivery can help bring complex transportation infrastructure to completion while improving mobility and safety for non-motorized users.
Timmons Group also received the award for Best Planning Study for the Downtown Transportation Engineering Study for One-way/Two-way Conversion in Fredericksburg. The study used data-driven analysis, public engagement and concept plans to examine the conversion of downtown streets from one-way to two-way operation. The effort was intended to improve safety, access and multimodal mobility while advancing Complete Streets implementation.
Celebrating the Profession
The diversity of the 2026 award recipients reflects the changing nature of transportation engineering in Virginia. The winning and recognized projects addressed intersection safety, interstate capacity, interchange operations, multimodal connectivity, pedestrian access, environmental considerations, construction safety, urban mobility and long-range planning.
VTCA congratulates all of the 2026 Transportation Engineering Awards entrants, winners and special-recognition recipients for their contributions to Virginia’s transportation system and for demonstrating the value that professional engineering brings to the Commonwealth.
See all the winners here.