NCDOT Announces 2009 Wildflower Award Winners

Highway Division 13 Wins Best Overall Program

RALEIGH — The N.C. Department of Transportation today announced the winners of the 20th annual Wildflower Awards. The awards recognized the efforts of NCDOT staff to carry out North Carolina’s wildflower program and enhance the overall appearance and environmental quality of the state’s highways. The awards are sponsored by The Garden Club of North Carolina Inc.

Transportation Secretary Gene Conti presented the awards today at the Board of Transportation Finance and Programming Committee meeting in Raleigh along with GCNC President Mary Lou Goodman and GCNC Roadside Committee Chair Pat Cashwell.

The 2009 award winners include:

Best Overall Division Wildflower Program

• First Place – Division 13, which includes Buncombe, Burke, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford and Yancey counties.
• Second Place – Division 4, which includes Edgecombe, Halifax, Johnston, Nash, Wayne and Wilson counties.
• Honorable Mention – Division 14, which includes Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Polk, Swain and Transylvania counties.

William D. Johnson Daylily Award

• First Place – Division 13 – I-240 at U.S. 19-23 North in Buncombe County.
• Second Place – Division 14 – U.S. 441 Franklin in Macon County.
• Honorable Mention – Division 9 – I-40 at U.S. 421 in Forsyth County.

Best Regional Wildflower Planting, Western Region

• First Place – Division 13 – U.S. 25 and Ivy River Road in Madison County.
• Second Place – Division 14 – U.S. 64 at Sloan Road in Macon County.
• Honorable Mention – Division 12 – I-85 at N.C. 29 exit in Cleveland County.

Best Regional Wildflower Planting, Central Region

• First Place – Division 7 – U.S. 220 and Holden Road in Guilford County.
• Second Place – Division 5 – I-40 at Lake Wheeler Road in Wake County.
• Honorable Mention – Division 9 – U.S. 52 and I-85 in Davidson County.

Best Regional Wildflower Planting, Eastern Region

• First Place – Division 1 – U.S. 17 Business and Bypass in Pasquotank County.
• Second Place – Division 4 – I-795 South of Alton Road in Wilson County.
• Honorable Mention – Division 6 – I-95 at mile markers 5 and 6 in Robeson County.

The NCDOT Wildflower Program began in 1985 and is coordinated by the department’s Roadside Environmental Unit, which installs and maintains more than 2,000 acres of wildflowers along North Carolina’s highways.