The Oregon Department of Transportation and Washington State Department of Transportation appointed Greg Johnson (seen above) to be the program administrator of their joint interstate bridge replacement program office, which will oversee replacement of the aging I-5 highway bridge spanning the Columbia River; part of a bi-state effort launched in November 2019.

Johnson – selected from a national pool of candidates – is a licensed professional engineer with a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Michigan and a Masters of Public Administration from Western Michigan University.

A 20-year transportation industry veteran, Johnson most recently, served as a senior vice president at engineering firm WSP USA. He also served as the state highway administrator for the Maryland Department of Transportation and as the deputy director for the Michigan Department of Transportation, where he worked for a time on the Gordie Howe International Bridge project.

“With his impressive range of technical and leadership experience, we are confident that Greg is the right person to take the helm of this critical program and help bring it to completion,” said Kris Strickler, director of the Oregon DOT, in a statement. “He has a demonstrated ability to effectively engage stakeholders and successfully deliver major infrastructure projects through complex community dynamics.”

“This is one of the most important transportation projects in the country, and we are all committed to seeing it through,” added WSDOT Secretary Roger Millar in a separate statement. “Greg’s skillset and experience providing strategic leadership and building partnerships to move projects forward will add immeasurably to our ability to deliver this program.”