American DBE Magazine Highways Update: Wilson Leads LaDOTD to Greater Equity During Tenure as Secretary

Highways Wilson Leads LaDOTD to Greater Equity During Tenure as Secretary

By Laurie D. Willis, Special to American DBE

During his seven-year tenure as Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development (LaDOTD) Secretary, Shawn Wilson led the way towards completing infrastructure improvements to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of his state. Although he retired in March 2023 to pursue a gubernatorial bid, he stepped down after paving the way for two transformational projects that will improve and impact the Pelican state for decades and make equity a hallmark of his administration.

The two projects are the I-10 Widening Project in Baton Rouge and the I-10 Calcasieu Bridge Project in Lake Charles. The I-10 Widening Project represents the largest and most complex project in the state’s history, while the I-10 Calcasieu River Bridge is a project that has been in the making for more than thirty years but is now set to begin. Both projects will provide opportunities for diverse firms to play significant roles as LaDOTD focuses on greater equity in its contracting activities.

One of the primary accomplishments of Wilson’s tenure was the strengthening of the agency’s diversity programs for LaDOTD’s workforce and the business community. Diversity is critically important to Wilson, who was the only Black state department of transportation chief executive officer when he was appointed Louisiana’s Secretary in 2016. He said that fact, coupled with what he witnessed in the ten years before his appointment, made him determined to ensure equitable representation in decisionmaking roles within the department.

During those years, Wilson was a member of the LaDOTD executive staff and later served as chief of staff before being selected to lead the agency. After assuming the secretary position, Wilson established a Diversity Advisory Council composed of the executive staff and section heads. He insisted that the department’s efforts were representative, intentional, and sustainable. The council adopted a charter and developed its first set of objectives on which to focus and systematically address. Those objectives, which included ensuring hiring panels were reflective of the department’s diverse workforce, training to select and hire the best candidates, and examining data and statistics to achieve inclusiveness, were completed in the last quarter of 2022. Advisory council members are currently developing a new set of objectives.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, left to right, LaDOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson; Lake Charles, Louisiana Mayor Nic Huntger; and Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards walk along the boardwalk at the Civic Center in Lake Charles, La. In February 2023. (Photo courtesy of LaDOTD)

Paula Merrick Roddy, LaDOTD compliance programs director, said the objectives are important because the department is “striving to be a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization.” Internally, she said, LaDOTD continues to be diverse, inclusive, and equitable in recruiting, hiring, and promotional opportunities while externally it continues including the public in decision-making that affects them and their communities while ensuring inclusivity among historically under-utilized businesses.

For Roddy, working to ensure diversity, inclusivity, and equity within the LaDOTD isn’t just her livelihood, it is personal. “I have a passion for this work, as my father was a minority business owner who did quite well; however, he was never aware of the vast array of programs that are available to small and minority businesses,” Roddy explained. “Had he known about these programs, his small business might have had the opportunity to become global. In his memory, I’m diligent about educating our small and minority-owned businesses regarding the opportunities that are not only available to them, but available at no cost to them...”

For the LaDOTD to thrive in today’s global economy, it must have diversity, inclusion, and equity at all levels, Roddy said. “The survival and growth of any organization depends on mass appeal across all persons regardless of their differences. Inclusion will help us move forward and upward.”

A demonstration of Wilson’s commitment to diversity was leading the department to become one of the first state transportation agencies to sign the Equity in Infrastructure Project Pledge in October 2022. Since the signing, a LaDOTD steering committee has adopted a standardized approach to ensure pledge goals are incorporated systemwide. The committee is reviewing inclusion practices on the I-10 Widening and I-10 Calcasieu Bridge Project, as well as upcoming electric vehicle charging infrastructure opportunities through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which will bring Louisiana approximately $73 million.

“As part of the DBE Outreach Plan, we present information on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program and encourage DBEs to partner with other DBE companies and prime contractors for participation on the installation of the charging stations and the program in general,” Roddy said.

Wilson said Louisiana residents will benefit from the state’s participation in the federal program, which provides funding to states to strategically deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate data collection, access, and reliability, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. At least 50 percent of the grant funds – or a minimum of $36.5 million in Louisiana – must be used for a community grant program with priority for expanding access to EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure within rural areas, low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and communities with a low ratio of private parking spaces.

LaDOTD Civil Rights Director Paula Roddy, Former LaDOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson visit with James Engster on the “Talk Louisiana” radio show. (Photo courtesy of LaDOTD)

Major Projects Represent Opportunity to Implement Equity

When the I-10 Widening Project is complete in 2028, the improvements will increase mobility in the Baton Rouge region by expanding the interstate to four lanes in each direction, with two thru lanes coming off the I-10 Mississippi Bridge heading east, which will help the west Baton Rouge traffic and any other traffic coming from the west. There will be a new, wider, four-lane bridge over the city park lakes and a scenic bridge that will give Baton Rouge a “signature look.”

The I-10 Widening Project runs through the heart of the City of Baton Rouge and will improve areas that were previously negatively impacted by the construction of the highway. “The project is a critical corridor reconstruction of a segment of interstate that represents the dark days of design and construction for some and unintended consequences for others,” Wilson said. “This billion-dollar project will redevelop a diverse segment of the state’s capitol, from an evolving environmental justice community to a thriving commercial and entertainment district. This project not only represents excellence in design, construction methodology and innovative delivery, but it speaks to a new model for delivering infrastructure.”

The I-10 Widening project begins in the most-challenged stretch of the community and will add to the quality of life once finished, Wilson said, adding it connects the different segments within the corridor and builds on the natural existing environments.

Diverse businesses should also experience increased opportunities on the project which runs directly through a predominantly African American neighborhood. “More importantly, the project represents a new approach to inclusive contracting. The state created an aggressive Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program within this singular project and is using a construction manager at risk contracting method, which allows the designer and contractor to work directly for the state under separate contracts with a cost estimator,” Wilson said. In this process, the team works collaboratively to design and construct the project to gain maximum value, and the contractor is required to work with local universities and trade schools to ensure a pipeline of workers from the community where the project’s being built.

Former Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Secretary Shawn Wilson

LaDOTD selected the Kiewit/Boh Joint Venture team as the construction manager at risk for the project, with a DBE goal of fifteen percent on the construction activities. The project also has a seven percent DBE goal for the preliminary design activities. The Kiewit/Boh project website states that the anticipated construction costs for the project are $872 million.

For the Calcasieu Bridge Project, LaDOTD officials have amassed over $800 million and are completing the procurement for a publicprivate partnership. Wilson said the state “took extra care to minimize takings and ensure equitable policies with regards to the financial structure of the project,” efforts that have received national attention.

“The Calcasieu Bridge Project will reinforce tolling policy and introduce innovative finance like never before,” Wilson said. “Given the nature of the P3 procurement, we have incentivized local hire and labor engagement as thoroughly as possible. We have included language to ensure strong DBE participation in the construction phase and the maintenance phase of the concession, which is not to exceed 50 years. For projects of this magnitude, we must have aggressive goals for DBE participation or run the risk of not meeting state goals.”

As Wilson ended his successful tenure leading Louisiana to greater levels of inclusion across the agency, he was satisfied with the strides LaDOTD has made. “I’m extremely proud of the work we’ve done over the past seven years, and the way we’ve done it is making a positive difference benefiting all of our citizens,” Wilson said. “The state is better off today with regards to our multimodal infrastructure and the philosophical underpinnings that drive our actions. Being inclusive is not just good for business; it’s good for Louisiana.”