The Stream by AASHTO

Chris Slesar and Alissa Fadden join the Stream by AASHTO podcast to discuss “Highways and Habitats,” a video training series created by a partnership between The Nature Conservancy and eight state departments of transportation.

In the Northeast, where the training is particularly focused, state DOTs have noticed a recent uptick in changing species patterns as a result of various habitat changes, including increased flooding and road construction. For those state DOTs, it became evident that a more “connected landscape” is necessary to make roads safer while simultaneously improving protections for local ecologies.

In this episode, Fadden and Slesar discuss a variety of topics – including how to build cross-border state DOT relationships, the impact of Vermont’s original award-winning “Highways and Habitats” training program, regional habitat connectivity successes, and what this new training initiative could mean for state DOTs in other parts of the United States. More information about the program can be found in The Leaflet by AASHTO’s June 2026 article about the training.

This podcast series is part of the AASHTO Environmental Management technical service program operated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It explores a wide array of environmental topics that affect state DOTs and the infrastructure programs they oversee.

The latest episode of the “Stream by AASHTO” podcast features an interview with Alan Hejl, founder and lead consultant of Spark Access; a company that helps people with disabilities gain more mobility options to help foster a greater sense of belonging and inclusion for them more broadly in society.

This podcast series is part of the AASHTO Environmental Management technical service program operated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It explores a wide array of environmental topics that affect state departments of transportation and the infrastructure programs they oversee.

The mission of Spark Access is foster more awareness, accessibility, and inclusion for the disabled within the mobility industry. The firm’s advocacy efforts focus on helping people with both visible and hidden disabilities gain more transportation options to fit their travel needs.

In this episode, Hejl talks about how his work at General Motors helped open his eyes to the wide array of mobility issues people with

disabilities face – a passion that deepened and became more personal in light of the mobility struggles faced by his wheelchair-bound wife.

Hejl discusses how different kinds of disabilities – both visible and hidden – can impact transportation options; how transportation systems are often built with the needs of the disabled as an afterthought; and how autonomous vehicles can offer the disabled greater travel opportunities if they meet their accessibility needs.

This podcast series is part of the AASHTO Environmental Management technical service program operated by the AASHTO. It explores a wide array of environmental topics that affect state departments of transportation and the infrastructure programs they oversee.

In this episode, McMurry – who graduated cum laude from Georgia Southern University with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering – traces his career path at Georgia DOT; starting as an intern in 1990 and then progressing all the way up to his appointment as commissioner in 2015.

McMurry also shares what he’s learned over the more than three decades he’s spent at Georgia DOT in a wide variety of roles, such as construction project manager, district engineer, director of engineering, chief engineer, and planning director. McMurry also discusses his emphasis areas as AASHTO president, especially in terms of how he selected them. His focus areas include surface transportation reauthorization, improvement of

project delivery, and safety. “Until there are zero deaths on our nation’s highways and roadsides, we all have work to do,” he said.

Finally, McMurry details what federal surface transportation funding reauthorization legislation could look like if passed Congress this year; a bill he hopes will contain strong formula funding programs to support state transportation needs and how he wants it to be easier for states to take on NEPA assignment duties from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In this podcast episode, Darlene Goehl joins ‘The Stream by AASHTO’ to discuss the joint work of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) with Texas Department of Transportation in building Monarch Flight Diverters or MFDs – a series of tall, mesh barriers placed along busy roads that motivate the butterflies to fly above the roadway, well above vehicles traveling on the highway below. Researchers have noted sharp declines in Monarch populations, specifically during their migration periods in the fall. In some years, researchers found that nearly 3 percent of the Monarch’s fall migratory population were lost after being struck by vehicles traveling on roads; this number represents about half of the population decline in a given year.

Goehl discusses the importance of monarch butterflies to the ecology and cultural symbology of the southern U.S. and northern Mexico, the role of transportation, and how TTI identifies “hot spots” for Monarch roadkill. From there, Goehl explains the implementation and feasibility of MFDs in Texas and how the project will fare into the future.

This podcast series is part of the AASHTO Environmental Management technical service program operated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It explores a wide array of environmental topics that affect state departments of transportation and the infrastructure programs they oversee.

This podcast series is part of the AASHTO Environmental Management technical service program operated by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. It explores a wide array of environmental topics that affect state departments of transportation and the infrastructure programs they oversee.
In this episode, George McCue with the Indiana DOT and Dr. Steven Pekarek from Purdue University are interviewed by Bernie Wagenblast regarding an electric vehicle charging project they are conducting under the auspices of the Joint Transportation Research Program. The project is testing a Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer or “DWPT” system, whereby transmitter coils underneath the road can send energy to an electric vehicle without ever having to plug it in – a power transfer system that is similar to wireless charger technology for smart phones.
In West Lafayette, IN, the Indiana DOT and Purdue have successfully tested a quarter mile of highway on U.S. Route 231 and U.S. Route 52 equipped with over 80 transmitter coils that carried charge to the test vehicle.
On the podcast, McCue and Pekarek discuss the multi-faceted aspects of the DWPT project, including the economic viability of the project’s technology, potential size limits of vehicles able to use the road, and working on public roadways that can see thousands of drivers daily. Both stress that this DWPT project could significantly expand the range of electric vehicles on U.S. highways.