Heminger, Brown among CTF award winners

Published:

Note: This is an adapted version of a story provided by the California Transportation Foundation.

The California Transportation Foundation announced the annual CTF Transportation Award winners at its ceremony in May.

Winners from all modes, from both the public and private sector, and from all regions of the state were recognized.

The Person of the Year Award was presented to Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission in the Bay Area. Former Gov. Edmund G. Brown won Elected Official of the Year; the Organization of the Year award went to the No on Proposition 6 Campaign; and the San Gabriel Railroad Trench Grade Separation – Alameda Corridor East won Project of the Year honors.

Special Awards for Emergency Response were presented to Caltrans Districts 2, 3 4,5 and 7.

Other Caltrans districts and offices sharing in other project awards presented at the ceremony:

  • District 2, Public Outreach Program of the Year Award, Carr Fire Emergency Outreach Program.
  • District 3, Safety Project of the Year Award, I-5 Traffic Handling Systems.
  • District 4, Freeway/Expressway Project of the Year Award, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Eastbound Third Lane Pilot Project.
  • District 7, Pedestrian/Bicycle Project of the Year, Figueroa Corridor Streetscape.
  • District 11, Interchange Project of the Year, I-5 Genesee Ave. Interchange Reconstruction.
  • District 11, Transit/Rail Project of the Year, SR-15 Mid-City Centerline Transit Stations; Sustainable/Environmental Enhancement Program of the Year, Caltrans Electric Vehicle Chargers.
Allen Z. Chen

Allen Z. Chen, right, of District 7 was this year’s winner of the Karl Moskowitz Award. He is shown with then-Director Laurie Berman.

Caltrans also was recognized for Conventional State Highway Project of the Year, the I-780 Laurel Street Bridge.

Photos and more information on all the category winners and others sharing in the above awards can be found here.

The Foundation also congratulates and recognizes the following winners of the Caltrans 2019 Outstanding Management and Engineering in Transportation Awards, who were also announced at this year’s ceremony. 

Karl Moskowitz Award: Allen Z. Chen, Chief, Office of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) District 7 Division of Operations. Under Allen’s leadership, District 7 has implemented one of the largest Advanced Transportation Management systems in the country. In implementing this system, Allen managed the planning, design and construction support for the Los Angeles Regional Transportation Management Center Project.

Charles H. Purcell Award: Jasvinderjit (Jesse) S. Bhullar, Chief, Division of Traffic Operations at Caltrans’ Sacramento headquarters. Throughout his career, Jesse’s mission at Caltrans has been to move Toward Zero Deaths on California’s public roadways. From his first assignment in District 10 where he managed the District Traffic Safety Program, to his current position as the State Traffic Engineer, he has worked diligently to make the safety of the traveling public the Department’s No. 1 priority.

In each of his career assignments over the last 30 years, Jesse has found ways to make roadways safer, better manage public assets and maximize the use of limited resources. Jesse has been able to completely revamp the safety monitoring programs, the traffic safety investigation processes, the programming of millions of dollars of safety projects and helped set the strategic vision for safety in California. Congratulations, Jesse!

Emerson Rhyner Award: Bruce April, Deputy District Director, District 11 Environmental. Bruce won for his leadership in the partnership with SANDAG and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to develop and implement the San Diego Region’s Environmental Mitigation Program. Not only did the program streamline delivery of critical transportation projects, it was a net benefit to the environmental resources in the county.

James E. Roberts Award: Michael J. Lee, Senior Bridge Engineer, Headquarters, Division of Maintenance, Structure Maintenance & Investigations. For nearly 30 years, Michael has been Caltrans’ leading bridge design engineer in Structure Maintenance & Investigations (SM&I). He has led bridge repair efforts in emergency situations and implemented cost effective and innovative bridge preservation and repair strategies to ensure the safety and dependability of California’s state highway bridge inventory.

Pay it forward and give today. Consider making a tax-deductible donation to the California Transportation Foundation, the leading charitable organization serving California’s transportation community.