The Transportation Agency presented their 19th Annual Transportation Excellence Awards to honor community members, programs and projects that make a significant contribution to improve transportation in Monterey County. This year’s awards recognize a city’s effort to reduce congestion along their mayor arteries, a unique public-private partnership that worked together in South County to make road improvements and a special award to a transportation agency that went “far and above” to assist the community through the pandemic.

The award honorees are: 

 The City of Monterey, and their partners, Bear Electrical and Western Systems was recognized for their city’s “Citywide Adaptive Traffic Signal System.” This project, currently running on 21 intersections, uses vehicle detection and artificial intelligence software to respond accurately and immediately to real-time traffic conditions.  

Gloria Road/Iverson/Johnson Canyon Road Pavement Reconstruction Project Team,                                comprised of members, County of Monterey RMA-Public Works, City of Gonzales, Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, Granite Construction and Harris & Associates, are recognized for their unique collaboration on the $7 million Gloria/Iverson/Johnson Canyon Road Pavement Reconstruction Project. Working together, this multi-agency team raised project funding, oversaw the design and bidding, and reconstruction of 5 miles of pavement along the critical access route to the regional landfill. 

Monterey Salinas Transit was presented a “Special Award of Recognition” for their leadership and community service to meet the unprecedented challenges of 2020.   With reduced ridership and fewer routes in operation, due to COVID-19, MST redirected and utilized their available workforce and resources to support community needs.