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Sue D鈥橝gnese

Region 1 traffic unit manager

ODOT Region 1 traffic unit manager, Portland

As the Region 1 traffic unit manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation, Sue D鈥橝gnese oversees what are essentially the methods to move people and goods around and through a four-county area with Portland in the center. She manages 20 transportation engineers and professionals who collectively have responsibilities that range from road signs and lane striping to management of traffic flow on congested freeways in the Portland-metro area during rush hour.

D鈥橝gnese has 30 years of experience and has seen firsthand the problems and successes associated with what can best be described as a mercurial problem.

鈥淧eople come to us with questions and problems, and my first thoughts are: 鈥榃ho knows about this?’聽 Determining how to fix something, what鈥檚 involved and finding who handles that problem 鈥� I work at solving problems all day,鈥� she said.

Described as the linchpin for management decisions involving safety and traffic operations in the Portland-metro area, D鈥橝gnese has to be responsive to both internal and external customers. She is the go-to person for policy, funding, strategy and technical issues. From there, she works with her team to coordinate and implement solutions. Her group is very diverse, with a nearly equal number of men and women, at least six for whom English is a second language, and professional experience ranging from less than a year to more than three decades. ODOT has long been recognized as a leader in employment diversity and opportunity, something D鈥橝gnese sees as part of the culture.

鈥淲e鈥檙e made up of all kinds of ethnicities in the greater Portland area,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t makes sense that our employees should represent that diversity.鈥�

D鈥橝gnese is a member of the Metro Safety Working Group, the city of Portland Technical Advisory Committee on High Crash Corridors, and the ODOT Statewide Practical Design Focus Group, as well as at least a dozen other strategic committees that deal with improving traffic and safety throughout the greater Portland region. She has also worked on cross-cultural sharing of transportation traffic information with representatives from Japan.

Outside of work, D鈥橝gnese has twice joined the Golden Leaf Education Foundation to build schools in Cambodia. She also is involved with the Northwest Fencing Center, where she assists fundraising and enjoys participating in the sport.

鈥淚t鈥檚 fun and there is certainly an art to it,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou鈥檇 be surprised how closely it parallels my work.鈥�