Colorado Department of Transportation executive director Shailen Bhatt will step down in December, ending a tenure that was defined by a fierce advocacy for more road money and transportation innovation.
He is the second top leader on Gov. John Hickenlooper’s team to resign as the governor’s second term nears its end. Ellen Golombek last month said she would leave her post as executive director of the Department of Labor and Employment to take a post with a national workforce advocacy agency.
Bhatt, appointed by Hickenlooper in February 2015, will take the president and CEO role at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America. The move seems fitting as one of the organization’s goals is to support new technology in transportation systems.
Bhatt launched an effort , partnered with and deployed the f. (This year, Colorado passed a law that created a process for .)
He also helped engineer a partnership between .
Under his leadership, CDOT opened , Interstate 70 and Interstate 25, which the department credits for shortening travel time by 20 to 50 percent along those corridors. The agency secured funding to accelerate improvements on I-25 between Fort Collins and Johnstown, and between Castle Rock and Monument.
Additionally, CDOT launched an interregional bus service called Bustang that connects Fort Collins, Glenwood Springs and Colorado Springs to Denver.
CDOT said its deputy executive director and COO Mike Lewis will serve as interim director.