New MoDOT director named

Former New Mexico highway and transportation secretary Pete Rahn is expected to be named today as Missouri's transportation director. . .

Rahn, 49, served as New Mexico's highway and transportation secretary from January 1995 through November 2002, when he became vice president of governmental affairs for Ohio-based Contech Construction Products Inc. . . .

Rahn previously was an insurance executive and a San Juan County, N.M., planning and zoning commissioner. While Rahn was New Mexico highway and transportation secretary, the state enacted a nearly $1.2 billion highway construction package that built 653 miles of new four-lane road. But Rahn ran into criticism from some legislators for his handling of the expansion to four lanes of what is now U.S. 550, a main link from the Albuquerque area to the northwestern corner of the state, including the Farmington area, where he once lived.

Rahn left his New Mexico position in November 2002 after eight years there. During his administration, his agency built 653 miles of new four-lane road in New Mexico, according to the state's transportation department Web site. . . .