Mr. Willard Thompson, PE has recently been appointed as the next Southwest Region Engineer for the Michigan Department of Transportation. Will most recently served as the Lansing Transportation Service Center (TSC) Manager for the past 3 ½ years and held previous positions as Associate Region Engineer for Delivery (Construction, Maintenance, Traffic Safety & Operations, and Environment) in University Region, and Construction Engineer in Jackson TSC. He brings a strong history of leading teams to implement innovative practices and technology to produce positive outcomes, most notably in bringing the use of tow plows and dual wing plows to MDOT’s winter operations, progressive approaches to asset data collection and measurement of winter operations performance, and playing an instrumental role in MDOT’s development of Superpave hot mix asphalt specifications. He guided his team to navigate the exploration of enhanced multi-modal transportation services associated with the Capital Area Transit Authority’s vision of bus rapid transit along trunkline routes, an experience that propelled him to represent Michigan on a national scan that documented efforts to balance the needs of multiple modes of transport in the public right of way. He also facilitated one of the department’s most unique and accelerated public-private partnerships to install cable median barrier on I-96 in collaboration with the Kiefer Foundation. Will takes a people-first approach to leadership and has effectively managed workforce development and succession planning challenges, including orchestrating a significant expansion of the University Region’s Youth Development & Mentoring Program and providing structured opportunities in the Lansing TSC for permanent employees to gain meaningful experiences to advance their careers while simultaneously ensuring continuity of TSC operations. Will holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Michigan.
Will’s appointment was effective December 30, 2018.
