Inslee Announces Appointment of Roger Millar as DOT Secretary

— from Tara Lee —

Roger Millar, secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee today announced the appointment of Roger Millar as secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation, effective immediately. Millar, who had been serving as deputy secretary for the past year, was appointed acting secretary in February.

Millar oversees an agency of 6,800 employees with responsibility for 18,600 lane miles of highway, 3,800 bridges, general aviation airports, passenger- and freight-rail programs and Washington State Ferries, the nation’s largest ferry system.

“Roger has proven to be a well-respected leader with an impressive ability to bring people together and find sensible solutions to difficult problems,” Inslee said. “He will be overseeing our historic new transportation investment package and is already bringing innovative efficiencies to WSDOT that will save time and money on projects across the state.”

“Based upon his performance as acting secretary, I am pleased Secretary Millar has been appointed by the governor and look forward to working with him,” said Sen. Curtis King, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

“I have been very impressed by Roger’s leadership at WSDOT and have full confidence he will be able to deliver the many safety and traffic relief projects included in the recent bipartisan transportation investment package,” said Rep. Judy Clibborn, chair of the House Transportation Committee.

Millar has nearly 40 years of experience in the transportation and planning area. He has worked in construction, design, planning, research, policy development, management and administration in both the public and private sectors. Millar has served as public works director, city and county planning director, and vice president of a multinational engineering firm. Before joining WSDOT, he worked for five years as vice president of a national not-for-profit organization providing technical assistance to state transportation agencies in Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont. Millar was elected a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1999.

From 2000 to 2014, he served on the ASCE Committee for America’s Infrastructure, which produces the nationally recognized Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Millar has won national, state and local awards for planning and project delivery, including the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organization’s National Award for Outstanding Achievement in Metropolitan Transportation Planning and the American Consulting Engineers Council Honor Award.

A graduate of the University of Virginia, Millar is a registered engineer in Washington and five other states. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and a certified floodplain administrator. Millar has served as president of the Oregon section of the ASCE and the Montana Association of Planners.