6/4/2008
Tom Cole named chief engineer of Idaho Transportation Department
RIGBY ‑ Tom Cole, who has served the transportation community in eastern Idaho the past two decades, has been named chief engineer for the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).
ITD Director Pam Lowe announced the selection of Cole, the District 6 engineer since 2000, for the position last week. Cole will assume leadership of highway maintenance and expansion Aug. 1, succeeding Steve Hutchinson who will retire this month.
He will head the Division of Highways, supervising 1,329 people. At District 6, he supervised 164 employees in Bonneville, Butte, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison and Teton counties.
In his new capacity, Cole will be responsible for highways in all six of ITD's geographic regions as well as highway programming, Office of Highway Operations and Safety, Highway Development (Bridge, Environmental, Right‑of‑way, Design and Consultant Administration), and Operations (Construction, Materials, Research, Maintenance, Traffic). He will serve as a member of ITD's executive management team and will report to ITD Deputy Director Scott Stokes.
During his eight‑year tenure as district (head) engineer of District 6, which is headquartered in Rigby, Cole made consistent improvements in district planning and operations.
"Tom's wealth of experience will enable the transportation department to continue moving forward in its efforts to create an efficient, responsive transportation system in Idaho," Lowe said. "He will be very important to our success at ITD."
Cole began his career at the transportation department in 1982 as a highway designer in Boise. Five years later he transferred to Materials in District 6 in Rigby, where he began ascending the ranks to district engineer. He was promoted to Region 1 engineer in 1996, assistant district engineer in 1998 and became district engineer in October 2000.
Under his leadership, the district delivered projects on time and within established budgets. He also improved communication by establishing county transportation committees and by creating a public information specialist position.