Carrboro wins Cleantech Impact: Transportation Award for street resurfacing project

At the 2024 Cleantech Innovation Award Ceremony on Nov. 13, the Town of Carrboro received the Cleantech Impact: Transportation Award for their 2024 Street Resurfacing Project.

The Cleantech Innovation Awards are an annual awards ceremony hosted by the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster, an organization connecting industry, academia and government to promote innovative clean technologies. First held in 2021, the ceremony celebrates innovative projects and initiatives in North Carolina. 

Deb Wojcik, the executive director of the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster, said the organization wants to celebrate amazing sustainable projects across the state by recognizing nominees, finalists and winners. 

"It really is about inspiring everyone to keep doing the important work that everyone in the room that supported the event is doing," she said. 

She said the selection panel for the awards is composed of industry, academic and government experts, who evaluate information submitted by the nominees based on a rubric. The winner of the Cleantech Impact: Transportation Award was selected based on the criteria of innovation impact, environmental impact, social impact and economic impact, Wojcik said.

Carrboro’s street resurfacing project is a three-phase project involving various improvements to more than 20,000 feet of the Town’s roads and greenways. 

The first phase of the project upgraded the Town’s sidewalk ramps and repaired curb and gutters to comply with ADA standards. The second phase utilized titanium dioxide additives on the Town’s roads, and the third phase — which is nearly complete — involves paving roads across the Town.

Wojcik said the project used of titanium dioxide as an alternative, cost-effective material to reduce the negative environmental impacts of roads. 

Traditionally, paved roads absorb ultraviolet light, creating heat and contributing to the urban heat island phenomenon. The titanium dioxide additives allow roadways to instead utilize the ultraviolet light to decarbonize pollutants that traditionally contribute to smog, including carbon dioxide and nitric oxide.

The additives can increase the lifespan of roads by more than 50 percent and can capture up to 60 percent of common pollutants.

“Carrboro has found material that not only has an environmental benefit of extending the life of the asphalt roadway, but it also means that air pollution is being addressed,” Carrboro Town Council member Randee Haven-O’Donnell said. 

The Town is also taking other efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, with a specific goal of reducing emissions by 80 percent by 2030.

“The award is recognizing Carrboro’s commitment to climate action and best practices of roadway management,” Catherine Lazorko, Carrboro’s communication and engagement director, said. 

Wojcik said while there is not a cash prize for receiving the award, the award grants Carrboro recognition of their work and the opportunity to promote the project.

“Carrboro is modeling something that, if it works out, it really could make a difference in other communities,” Haven-O’Donnell said. “The production of this kind of roadway material could help revolutionize what’s being put on the ground.”

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