- September 12, 2025
- Awards, Industry Awards
Sparks Intelligent Corridors Project Receives 2025 ITE Transportation Achievement Award
In 2025, the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) awarded the Sparks Intelligent Corridors project a Transportation Achievement Award. As a winner in the Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO) category, this project streamlined traffic and travel communications in Sparks, Nevada, and impacted the daily commutes of drivers between the I-80/I-580/US-395 interchange (the “Spaghetti Bowl”) and Spanish Springs areas.
The Kimley-Horn team worked with the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC Washoe); City of Sparks; University of Nevada, Reno; and Inrix to use live travel time data from the cloud to adjust signal timing and provide virtual alerts to drivers in the network based on their location. To allow operators to set parameters for traffic signal management and utilize virtual dynamic message sign (vDMS) systems, we brought in our proprietary smart cities solution, Traction Connect. This platform helped eliminate the need for physical field devices, automatically invoke signal timing flush plans, and send real-time vDMS communications.
The RTC Washoe Sparks Intelligent Corridors project has already resulted in reduced congestion—11% average travel time improvement and 75% reliability and variation improvement—as well as increased green light arrivals for mainline traffic and automated signal timing plan deployment along Sparks Boulevard. In the future, RTC Washoe is planning to expand this model beyond the initial region, and it also provides a flexible prototype for other areas that need smart, data-driven transportation solutions—making it a worthy recipient of ITE’s Transportation Achievement Award for TSMO.
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