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Jennings to head
Office of Traffic and Highway Safety

Brent Jennings will return to the place where he began his ITD career after recently accepting a promotion to Traffic and Highway Safety Engineer. He replaces Lance Johnson who accepted a position with the Federal Highway Administration late last year.

“I am pleased that Brent has accepted the new position,” said ITD Director Dave Ekern. “He brings a solid background in both engineering and traffic safety and will be a key player in our efforts to improve safety on Idaho’s highways.”

For the past five years, Jennings has been the assistant district engineer in Rigby (District 6). Leaving the district and Idaho Falls area will be difficult because of the relationships he has forged. Still, he’s looking forward to returning to the Boise area where his parents and siblings live.

After earning an engineering degree from California State Polytech University in Los Angeles, Jennings worked about two years for Morrison-Knudsen (now Washington Group International) in Texas. A graduate of Borah High School, he returned to Boise to begin the Engineer-in-Training program at District 3; he became a licensed Professional Engineer in 1987.

In about 1989 he transferred to Headquarters to work in the construction section. In is 11 years at Headquarters, he held three positions:

– Construction associate (four years), with oversight responsibilities for districts 4, 5 and 6
– Construction claims engineer, investigating and representing the department in construction claims; and
– Assistant state construction engineer

He moved to eastern Idaho in 2001.

Jennings will serve a dual role – working to improve the safety of the state’s highway system and overseeing the Office of Traffic and Highway Safety programs.

The office administers federal grants and coordinates programs designed to reduce deaths and injuries from motor vehicle crashes. The office promotes safe travel on Idaho’s transportation systems through educational campaigns, assists in providing funds for enforcement campaigns and collects, maintains and disseminates reliable crash data.

Jennings said his new role will include involvement with access management on Idaho’s highways, expanding the use of Intelligent Transportation Systems, improving construction work zone safety conditions, working with the Legislature on safety initiatives and assisting with the strategic highway safety plan.