By Joseph Palmersheim

They didn’t know the four-year-old’s name.

They didn’t know why the child was in an ambulance, or why they had to get to Sioux Falls S.D.

But they knew they’d do all they could to escort the ambulance through a blizzard.

MnDOT staff in Districts 7 and 8 recently won Above and Beyond Awards for escorting a Tracy Ambulance Service vehicle in a storm Jan. 14. The ambulance carried a child with a traumatic brain injury who needed urgent help. Plow crews cleared the way for the 94 miles between the facilities. They guided the ambulance across compacted roads in intermittent whiteout conditions.

The ambulance company expressed its thanks in a letter sent to MnDOT Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher. The letter read, in part:

“…MnDOT had a snowplow close to our location and graciously offered their assistance. As we continued our journey, snowplows from different locations continued to clear the road in front of us. Not only did driving on a plowed road allow us to be able to go faster, it made the ride much smoother which was critical for this patient. We want to give a sincere thank you to all of the MnDOT plow operators that cleared the roads in front of our ambulance…It is without a doubt that your commitment truly helped save a life.”

Staff involved included:

• Cortney Haugen, District 8 snowplow operator
• Hannah Oellien, District 8 snowplow operator
• Ione Pillard, District 8 account clerk
• Brent Buse, District 8 snowplow operator
• Paul Bernardy, District 8 snowplow operator
• Ryan Eliason, District 8 supervisor
• Joe Williams, District 8 snowplow operator
• Lonnie Hoffman, District 8 superintendent
• Kevin Blom, District 8 assistant supervisor
• Pete Kramer, District 7 snowplow operator

Four drivers (three from District 8, one from District 7) performed escort duties. Brent Buse (Marshall Truck Station) met up with the ambulance on Hwy 23, for the first leg of the trip. Hannah Oellien, Pipestone Truck Station, took over after Buse. Cortney Haugen, another driver from Pipestone, drove next. Pete Kramer, from the Luverne Truck Station in District 7, served as the last escort driver.

Situations like these come up a lot, said Ryan Eliason, District 8 supervisor.

“It depends on the weather, of course, but if there's storms, people will ask for help,” he said. “It happens more than a person would think. Any one of our operators would have turned around and done what needed to be done. It’s been done in the past and will be done in the future. This was an emergency, and we knew it was serious. It's a good feeling to know that that little person could still be alive because of what we did.”

As COVID-19 cases start to decline after two years into the pandemic, state agencies are beginning to take the first steps toward creating a hybrid workplace.

In two emails sent to employees during the past week, temporary Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger and Deputy Commissioner/Chief Administrative Officer Kim Collins announced some of the short-term changes ahead:

• All state office buildings – including all MnDOT buildings – will reopen April 22 to provide more flexibility where work is performed.
• For employees who currently are working remotely, teleworking will continue to be an option.
• For employees who are already working on site or would like to begin working in the office, the buildings will be more accessible to employees and the public.

“We would also like to especially acknowledge the majority of MnDOT employees who have continued reporting to work sites throughout the entire pandemic – thank you for your flexibility and efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 over the past two years,” they said in their Feb. 24 email.

They acknowledged that this change will bring additional questions about other policies that have been implemented during the COVID pandemic.

“There’s a lot to figure out – we will be working with our partners at MMB and looking closely at existing policies in the coming days and weeks. You can expect additional communication about updated guidance from us as soon as any new information is available.

“We are so grateful to you all and proud of the way that MnDOT has continued to deliver a high level of service to Minnesotans during times of uncertainty. Thank you for commitment and hard work,” they said.

On Feb. 28, state employees received notification from MMB that the state face covering policy, HR/LR Policy #1442, has been rescinded effectively immediately due to the improving COVID-19 situation in Minnesota.

Daubenberger and Collins sent another email to MnDOT staff to confirm this policy change.

“With this policy rescinded, also effectively rescinding our agency policy, we wanted to confirm that MnDOT employees are no longer required to wear face coverings in the workplace,” they said. “If you would like to continue wearing a mask, you are welcome to do so and MnDOT will continue providing face coverings while supplies last.”

The CDC provides helpful, updated information about COVID-19 by county. Contact your HR office with any questions.

By Rich Kemp

Pippi Mayfield works in District 1 as the Public Engagement and Communications director. She has been with MnDOT for three years.

What has been your career path?
I’m from the Detroit Lakes area and was a journalist for 14 years. During that time, I called Judy Jacobs, District 4 public affairs at the time, many times for interviews, especially with the Hwy 10 realignment. She and the engineers she put me in contact with (Shiloh Wahl, Jeff Perkins, Tom Lundberg and Tom Swenson) were awesome, and I decided it would be a fun to work for MnDOT. Fast forward several years, I had moved to Duluth and applied for the public engagement and communications director position when it was created. Now, here I am!

What do you do in your job?
I work mainly with our project managers, but also anyone in the district who needs assistance reaching the public and stakeholders on upcoming projects. I help create engagement materials and distribute them (press releases, postcards, flyers, letters, surveys, etc.), organize and moderate public meetings, update websites, create social media posts, create HR recruiting materials, help field questions/concerns from the public and media requests, coordinate graphics, attend community and pop-up events as well as door-knocking (pre-COVID, and again soon, I hope), and probably other things I’m forgetting right now. I also sat in on legislative visits this year, which has been interesting to hear their concerns.

What’s your favorite part about what you do?
I like helping people – both co-workers and the public – so I like that the main purpose of my position is to help others. I also enjoy the variety of things I work on at any given moment and getting to know all the projects going on throughout the district over the next one to 10 years.

I really like learning new things or new ways of doing things. My job has evolved over the three years I’ve been here, and I find that exciting and very rewarding.

What are the biggest challenges?
Getting people interested in a project years in advance when they could influence it. Just trying to reach people in general. For example, we did a variety of outreach for the Twin Ports Interchange project years before it started and tried new approaches that hadn’t been used in the past. This is one of the largest projects (if not the largest) in our district in decades. Yet the summer before we started tearing down bridges and moving traffic, people still had never heard of the project. It blew my mind, but also shows the challenge of reaching people.

Secondly, getting the resources we need to do our job efficiently and effectively.

How has your work changed because of COVID-19?
Certainly going virtual. And now hybrid. At first it was interesting to learn WebEx and how it worked to host public meetings. We got pretty savvy at that, and now it’s the challenge of adding back the in-person element, but still keeping the virtual presence. I think it’s fantastic we were pushed to make some changes, and I think we’re reaching a different audience now. We’re also making things more convenient for our audience by posting videos to watch when it’s the right time for them and not just on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in city hall.

I moved to teleworking two years ago and love it. At first, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to stay focused and would lose something by working from my living room. I absolutely miss seeing and chatting with my co-workers, but it’s gotten so “normal” now that I love the flexibility of being at home, not having to spend hours in the car travelling to meetings/trainings and multi-tasking during some of the not-as-exciting meetings. Now I’m happy to run into the office now and then.

What are some of the projects you are working on?
Some of the bigger, more interesting ones I’m working on include Twin Ports Interchange, Blatnik Bridge, London Road, Central Entrance, Two Harbors and 5th Ave West Bridge. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of smaller projects that are important and interesting as well. I’ve been able to do lots of interesting engagement on these big projects like surveys, update videos and piloting the Let’s Talk Transportation platform. I’m also enjoying the different stages of engagement from mid-construction with TPI to day one with Blatnik Bridge (2028) to the corridor study phase with Two Harbors (2025). Also, Blatnik Bridge gives me the experience of working with WisDOT.

What advice do you have for staff on conducting public engagement?
There are always new, fun ways of reaching the public, so suggest any and all ideas. Also, remember that no matter how much we reach out, there will always be people who don’t want to participate. It is not a failure on our part.

Do you or a co-worker have an interesting job to share with readers? Send us your ideas, and we’ll contact you for more information.

Recent employee profiles:

• Abby Hinrichs develops scope, cost estimates for District 2 projects
• Mao Yang helps shape Local Partnership Program for State Aid Office
• Keith Bengtson, crew do all aspects of surveying for District 1's road projects

By Margaret Anderson Kelliher

Dear MnDOT Family,

I am going to miss you. This is a bittersweet goodbye – I deeply appreciate the work each one of you do to make our multimodal transportation system work. This agency is world-class because of the people who work here, I feel so honored and proud to have the opportunity to serve alongside you these past three years.

This has also been a very hard time, and we’ve faced multiple crises. I know that the COVID-19 pandemic has created real challenges for each of you and has had many impacts on our work. Because of your hard work and tireless commitment to continue serving our fellow Minnesotans, I do believe we have successfully navigated the changes and challenges of COVID, together.

The events around the deaths of George Floyd, Daunte Wright and Amir Locke just last month have also challenged our state, our agency, and all of us to face many hard truths about being Black in Minnesota. We are each on a journey of understanding, and I hope you’ll continue listening closely to the perspectives of our BIPOC neighbors and co-workers. There is much more work to do – work that has begun and that I know MnDOT is committed to and will carry forward.

It’s also important to celebrate our accomplishments – and a few things I especially want to hold up and cheer include MnDOT’s progress in leading Tribal State Relations Training and the work of our Office of Tribal Affairs; the agency’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gases and implementing measurable goals for climate action in transportation; the infusion of state and federal dollars to preserve, enhance and modernize Minnesota’s multimodal transportation system; and systems improvement through hard work and an openness to innovation and doing things differently.  
 
I leave MnDOT with an overwhelming sense of gratitude and confidence in your continued success – thank you all so much for the meaningful work you do to keep the state of Minnesota moving safely and efficiently.

Goodbye for now – and I’ll see you on down the road.  

In friendship,
Margaret