Shoshana Lew confirmed as CDOT Executive Director

DENVER – By a unanimous vote today, the State Senate confirmed Shoshana Lew as the new executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).  Lew was appointed by Governor Jared Polis on December 21, 2018.

“CDOT has a big job ahead, as we focus on reducing traffic. We must manage the infrastructure that we have, while also tackling congestion both on the ground and in the air as we accommodate population growth with a system that expands multimodal options and integrates new technology in ways that make us more efficient,” said Gov. Polis.  “We must work to execute on these priorities in real-time, while simultaneously working towards a more sustainable source of funding to keep our system sustainable and safe for the people of Colorado.”

Lew comes to Colorado after over a decade of past public service, at both the federal and state levels.  This included serving as Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs at the U.S. Department of Transportation, as well as in a number of other roles throughout the Obama Administration, at the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the White House Office of Management and Budget and Domestic Policy Council. She also served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.   

“The responsibility of serving as the Executive Director is at once humbling and exciting, and together, we have a tremendous opportunity to improve the lives of Coloradans through our transportation system,” said Lew. “We all rely on our transportation system for virtually every aspect of daily life — and issues like access to good schools, health care options, and multimodal transportation options — some of Governor Polis and this Administration’s key priorities — are deeply interconnected.  Through all of it, we must work relentlessly to improve the safety of our system for the people of Colorado.”

CDOT has approximately 3,000 employees located at its Denver headquarters and in regional offices throughout Colorado, and manages more than 23,000 lane miles of highway and 3,429 bridges. CDOT also manages grant partnerships with a range of other agencies including metropolitan planning organizations, local governments, and airports, and administers Bustang, the state-owned and operated interregional express service.  Gov. Jared Polis has charged CDOT to further build on the state’s intermodal mobility options.

Lew replaces Mike Lewis, who was executive director during the final year of Gov. Hickenlooper’s administration.