By Jeanne Aamodt

The U.S. Congress is developing an Economic Recovery Program that could provide several hundred million dollars for transportation in Minnesota. Although the details of this funding remain fluid, Mn/DOT is making some assumptions based on Federal Highway Administration information to begin project preparations.

Currently, both the U.S. House and Senate are requiring projects be “shovel ready,” meaning they would need to be federally authorized within 90 to 180 days. Mn/DOT has posted a list of projects on the department's Web site that could be ready for authorization within the timeframe being discussed by Congress.

Commissioner Tom Sorel said that although Mn/DOT will not prepare a program until the requirements are known, the department is committed to fully using these funds to create jobs and make lasting improvements in the state’s highway infrastructure.

“We have selected these projects based on criteria that include project readiness, work type balance, statewide coverage and consistency with statewide plans and goals,” he said.

Sorel said that not all projects listed are likely to be funded and that about 30 percent of Economic Recovery Funds are expected to be made available to cities and counties.

Project costs are expected to be covered 100 percent by the federal funds, with no match required.

“The final list of projects will be based on legislation, funding levels and input from local agencies and our transportation planning partners,” he said. “The details of this program will continue to evolve rapidly and the magnitude of its impact will be great.”

The department continues to track the prospective transit, aviation and rail components of the program, but preparation in these areas is being addressed separately because it is not clear if funding will be distributed through Mn/DOT.

More information, including district lists of potential highway projects, is available on Mn/DOT’s Web site at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/federalrecovery/jan29.html. Jon Chiglo is project manager for the effort, responsible for managing the day-to-day response to economic recovery proposals and coordinating with the State Aid division, Mn/DOT offices and districts, as well as transportation stakeholders.

Phillips named federal relations manager

In related news, Serge Phillips has been appointed to the position of federal relations manager in the Office of Government Affairs.

His appointment was effective Jan. 23.

He succeeds Brad Larsen, who is now director of Traditional and Innovative Finance in the Office of Financial Management.

In this position, Phillips will represent the department as a liaison with the congressional delegation on all federal transportation issues that affect Mn/DOT, including coordinating the agency involvement in such significant upcoming federal initiatives as the Economic Recovery Program, as well as the Federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization Bill, and the Aviation Reauthorization Bill.  

Phillips has been with Mn/DOT since 1998 in various positions within the offices of Financial Management, Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations, and Administration. For the past year he has been on a mobility assignment to the federal relations area of the Government Affairs Office.

“This experience will enable Serge to have an immediate, positive impact on the federal legislative analysis and strategy for the agency,” said Scott Peterson, Government Affairs director.  

Philips earned a law degree from Hamline University in St. Paul and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vassar College in New York. Prior to joining Mn/DOT, he spent several years as an attorney in the private sector.

Sue Lodahl, Research Services Section director, has been named to the position of assistant state maintenance engineer, said Steve Lund, Office of Maintenance director and state maintenance engineer.

Her appointment is effective Feb. 18.

Lodahl has been with Mn/DOT for 25 years serving in various capacities including as a student worker/ paraprofessional senior, graduate engineer, state signals and lighting engineer and maintenance operations engineer.

In Lodahl’s new role, she will assist with the formulation of policies and provide managerial direction and leadership to the Office of Maintenance and for statewide maintenance operations.  

Lodahl brings a broad engineering background in traffic and maintenance, along with research administration, as well as an impressive amount of experience and ability to this position, Lund said.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota. 

By Lisa Yang

Adam Josephson, previously an area engineer in the Metro District, and John Griffith, from the Office of Investment Management and Performance Measures, began their new positions as Metro District area managers on Jan. 21.

They are two of four area managers leading the delivery of transportation projects within the Twin Cities metro area.

As east area manager, Josephson succeeds Nick Thompson, who is now the director of the Office of Policy Analysis, Research and Innovation.

Josephson has been with Mn/DOT since 1990. He has also worked with the Indiana Department of Transportation. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from North Dakota State University.

He can be reached at 651-234-7719.

As west area manager, Griffith succeeds Tom O’Keefe, now Metro District Program Delivery director.

Griffith started at Mn/DOT in 1989 and has served as an area engineer, preliminary design engineer and photogrammetric planning engineer. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

He can be reached at 651-234-7728.

By Lisa Yang

During his first two years at Mn/DOT, Lance Dolan, information technology specialist 3, has led and assisted in the creation of several application projects for Mn/DOT offices.

Dolan was studying Java, a computer programming language, at Saint Paul College when he was hired in December 2006 as a student worker in the Office of Information and Technology Services. He was recently featured in the college’s alumni newsletter.

Before coming to Mn/DOT, Dolan ran his own Web design and Java programming business.

Describe some of the projects that you’ve worked on.

Recently, I was the project leader for the A to Z project on the Web. I created a program that would make it easier and simpler for users, and for people in the Communications Office to log in and add, edit and delete topics in A to Z.

I also created programs for the offices of Affirmative Action, Bridge and IT. With some of the programs I created, I also had to integrate with the offices’ current systems.

You received two Above and Beyond awards for assisting on a project related to the Interstate 35W Bridge collapse. Tell us about the application you created.

That was my biggest project. The application was created to help support the clean up effort after the collapse.

I created a file sharing application that would allow the National Transportation Safety Board and Mn/DOT to upload and share documents and information. The most important thing was that this application had to be absolutely secure and impenetrable to the Web and public.

How long did that project take?

In a traditional environment, and with the size and scope of the project, it should have taken two months to get it all done, but I was working on it all the time at work and got help from another person, who was a contractor.

We were able to get it done in five days. I stayed pretty late at work during that time.

Explain how you start creating an application.

It’s mostly because of a business need when we create applications. The first step is to analyze the customers’ business needs, and what the best solution is. Once everything is defined, I go into hardcore coding. It’s one step at a time.

And, it’s not just technical skills that are involved, but it’s also interpersonal skills, too.

I translate what people want into code. I’m the middle person, and people tell me what they need, and I use that information and turn it into an application.

By Chris Joyce

A voice well-known during the past three decades for chronicling Mn/DOT’s moments, both great and small, fell silent last week.

Craig Wilkins, communications specialist in the Office of Communications, died Jan. 27, two days after suffering a heart attack at his home in Minneapolis. He was 66.

“Craig was a talented writer and storyteller, but it was ‘Craig the Man’ I really appreciated,” said Kevin Gutknecht, Office of Communications director. “He was engaging, had a great sense humor, and was a devoted family guy. He seemed to have a pretty good balance in his life.”  

Craig wore many hats at Mn/DOT over the years: editor, assistant editor, staff writer and photographer. Regardless of the title preceding his name, many folks in the department considered him to be the go-to guy for employee and media communications.

From his arrival in January 1980 onward, Craig covered just about every topic related to transportation that was possible—crews transplanting trees or filling potholes, demolishing a bridge or constructing its replacement, opening a new rest area or closing a road. And countless others.

He loved planes, trains and all things modal. For both the 25th anniversary celebration of Mn/DOT in 2001 and the 50th anniversary of the interstate in 2006, he spent weeks interviewing current and retired employees and digging through Minnesota Historical Society archives. The end products were two series of well-researched and informative articles detailing the state’s transportation history.

But his particular passion was writing about the people of Mn/DOT.

He made it a point to visit other offices and the districts to speak with employees about their jobs, their families…and their favorite restaurants. He could tell you the best bakeries anywhere near a state highway, and always had a story or two to share about someone he had met on the road.

His training in journalism and years as a reporter for the St. Cloud Daily Times prior to joining Mn/DOT honed Craig’s ability to produce a lot of copy quickly, easily cutting to the heart of a story. His folksy style made even the most technical story readable.

“On a typewriter, on a computer, on the back of an envelope, what will forever remain a strong memory for me was Craig’s ability to write. Not just to write, but to write stories that drew me in and kept me reading,” said Lucy Kender, human resources project manager, Office of Human Resources, and former Communications director.

Some of Craig’s most enjoyable writing was never intended for publication, such as the witty e-mails and little transportation ditties that he would compose to amuse himself as much as others. One of his last such riffs was a public service announcement—written as a rap song—to promote winter driving safety.

Craig’s passing leaves a huge hole in our hearts, and to a certain extent, in Newsline. No other employee wrote about Mn/DOT so prolifically, artfully and affectionately, over so long a period, as Craig did. We are richer as an agency for the hundreds of stories that he chronicled during the past 29 years, and for the countless memories he created for us in the process.

In 2001, he captured his experience-to-date:

“Paging through old copies of Mn/DOT publications can feel like looking at your high school year book, a wedding album or a box of vacation slides. A casual glance draws you in and starts enveloping you in memories and a kaleidoscope of associations. Soon you may forget just exactly what it was you were looking for. Often, after a while, it doesn’t matter…

“It’s been my pleasure—and occasional pain—to edit, write for and agonize over the DOT Scene, the Express and the Mn/DOT NEWS (Newsline’s predecessors) during the past 20 years.”  

The pleasure was all ours, Craig.

By Craig Wilkins

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the Dec. 21, 1998 issue of Mn/DOT NEWS, the department’s employee newsletter.

Talking with Mn/DOT people about life in the Transportation Building when it was brand new in the late 1950 stirs up some memories of my own.

I showed up at the Transportation Building for the first time early on a Saturday morning in 1979 to take the information officer civil service test. The test was held in the cafeteria. A long box held the ugliest, fakiest looking artificial plants I had ever seen.

“Who works here?” I asked myself between test questions.

A few months later, I did.

During my first few months we had Muzak. Everywhere. Some people liked it. I hated it.

My first “office” was made of brown, orange and gold partitions arranged at various angles. Our assistant director smoked constantly—sometimes having two cigarettes going at once.

Within months the Muzak stopped and the fake ivy was uprooted. Within a few years smoking was no longer allowed and I had my own symmetric, monochromatic cube.

A computer replaced my electric typewriter. PROFS connected us all electronically.

But the changes I experienced were indeed small potatoes compared with the ones Mn/DOT NEWS staffers heard while talking with employees and retirees. Many of the stories were funny, but they all depict the daily reality of work life and what it took to get the job done.

The history of the building actually rests with the collective experience of the people who work in it. We’re grateful to the people who shared their stories with us. We hope you enjoy them. We know there are countless other—ask people a few questions and you’re sure to hear some interesting stories on your own.