Former MoDOT Director and "Highway Man" Pete Rahn nominated to lead Maryland DOT

Maryland Governor Hogan has chosen "highway builder" and former MoDOT Director Pete Rahn as his Secretary of Transportation.

Pete Rahn

Rahn certainly was a "highway builder" at MoDOT, where his legacy includes:

• Eliminating the MoDOT Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), which had been created by action of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in the 1990s.
• Stopped adoption, or even consideration of official adoption, of the statewide strategic bicycle and pedestrian plan that had been created by the BPAC in its final year
• Fired the MoDOT bicycle and pedestrian coordinator who ran the committee and create the statewide strategic plan--leading (even under the most favorable possible interpretation) to years of lost time and failure to make significant progress on these issues
• Personally quashing the state's Complete Streets bill, which MoDOT had formerly supported
• Overseeing the creation of a "Practical Design" framework that gave MoDOT Central Office unlimited authority to eliminate bicycle and pedestrian-friendly elements from road designs, even after public input and local leaders had supported them

Rahn still must be confirmed by the Maryland Senate.  These Senators should grill Rahn thoroughly over these actions he took during his tenure as Missouri's highway chief and ask him about his commitment to transit as well--because if Rahn had a commitment to transit, we certainly did not see that appear during his time in Missouri!

The Washington Post reports that the highway-friendly side of Rahn is exactly the one that Hogan wishes to hire::

Maryland Gov.-elect Larry Hogan (R) announced eight more senior members of his administration Tuesday, including a new transportation secretary whom he introduced as “the best highway builder in the entire country.”

Hogan’s nomination of Pete Rahn, who has held top transportation jobs in New Mexico and Missouri, comes amid great uncertainty over the future of the light-rail Purple Line in the Washington suburbs and other proposed mass-transit projects. The governor-elect has strongly signaled that he will emphasize roads over rail after he takes office Jan. 21.

Hogan, who made tax cuts a rallying cry of his campaign, also pledged to focus this spring on reducing tolls at Maryland’s bridges and tunnels. Tolls are set by an executive-branch authority whose members are appointed by the governor.

Another Washington Post article has a few more details:

Hogan’s nomination of Pete Rahn, who has held top transportation jobs in New Mexico and Missouri, comes amid great uncertainty over the future of the light-rail Purple Line in the Washington suburbs and other proposed mass-transit projects. The governor-elect has strongly signaled that he will emphasize roads over rail after he takes office Jan. 21.

Hogan, who made tax cuts a rallying cry of his campaign, also pledged to focus this spring on reducing tolls at Maryland’s bridges and tunnels. Tolls are set by an executive-branch authority whose members are appointed by the governor.