WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced $77 million in grants to 22 University Transportation Centers (UTCs) to advance research and education programs that address critical transportation challenges facing our nation. The UTCs, which are located throughout the United States, conduct research that directly supports the priorities of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

   RICHMOND, VA. — Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell announced that the Dominion Boulevard project, a significant transportation improvement to ease congestion and improve safety in Chesapeake, Va., will move forward as a result of financing provided by the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (VTIB).

  URBANA, ILL. — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) awarded a grant of $3.5 million to a multi-university consortium led by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to establish a rail transportation and engineering research center. Headquartered within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Illinois, the National University Rail (NURail) Center will focus on rail education and research to improve railroad safety, efficiency, and reliability. Particular focus will be on challenges associated with rail corridors in which higher-speed passenger trains share infrastructure with freight trains.

  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President and CEO Michael Melaniphy examined the needs and trends facing the public transportation industry in his “2012: State of the Public Transportation Industry” article published in the Jan. 16, 2012 Passenger Transport issue. Melaniphy pointed out that more and more people are pro-transit, as evidenced by the overwhelming support for public transportation ballot initiatives since 2000.

  COLUMBIA, S.C. — The LPA Group Inc. (LPA), a unit of Michael Baker Corporation, was awarded a $5.1 million contract by the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to develop final construction plans for a new 5.7-mile section of Interstate 73 between I-95 and U.S. Route 501 in Dillon County, S.C., near the town of Latta.

   AUSTIN, TEXAS — The city of Austin awarded a contract to Parsons Brinckerhoff for the development of a transportation corridor plan along an 11.5-mile portion of I-35 in central Austin. The intent of the project is to achieve better performance, efficiency, and connectivity through greater Austin while minimizing impacts to right-of-way and adjacent development. 

  HOUSTON — Student engineers from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) decisively earned their second straight first place finish at the regional AISC-ASCE Steel Bridge Competition at the Pasadena (Texas) Convention Center. 

  WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) and other stakeholders are urging the U. S. Supreme Court to suspend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) seemingly automatic presumption of the need for a wetlands permit on all needed infrastructure and residential improvements. The court heard arguments on Jan. 9 in Sackett v. U.S.EPA, a case that could fundamentally alter how the agency administers its permitting program.