So far, summits have been held in Virginia, Minnesota, California, Illinois, New Mexico and Colorado. Four more summits are scheduled for Washington State, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Georgia.

The summits are part of FHWA's "Every Day Counts" initiative to expedite project delivery. The Every Day Counts initiative was unveiled by Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez at this year's AASHTO Spring Meeting in Natchez, Mississippi. Its goal is to shorten the time it takes to deliver major highway and bridge projects, and to speed the deployment of new technologies. (see May 7 AASHTO Journal story)

AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley, who attended this week's meeting, said the meetings were going very well.

"The benefits of this initiative to the states are substantial - more value for the dollar by starting to build projects sooner and completing projects faster," said Horsley. "Through Every Day Counts, the door has been opened to allow states to play a role they are suited for -- showing what they can do as innovation leaders."

During the summits, invited guest attend break-out sessions and discuss the Every Day Counts initiatives in great detail. To learn more, contact a local FHWA Division Office.

In September, FHWA unveiled a new Every Day Counts web site (www.fhwa.dot.gov/everydaycounts) that includes a toolkit to aid highway agencies and contractors in shortening project delivery times. The materials available cover these subject areas:

• Planning and environmental linkages
• Legal sufficiency enhancements
• Expanded use of programmatic agreements
• Use of in-lieu fee and mitigation banking
• Clarification of the scope of preliminary design
• Flexibilities in right of way
• Flexibilities in utility relocation
• Enhanced technical assistance on stalled environmental impact statements