Uniontown, PA – Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) Engineering District 12 is announcing that Rachel D. Duda, P.E. has been appointed to the position of District Executive effective Saturday, December 23, 2023. She replaces Bill Kovach, P.E. who retired at the end of October.
Duda graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with Bachelor of Science and Master of Civil Engineering degrees. She served as Transportation Engineer with HDR, Inc. for six months before becoming a Civil Engineer Trainee with PennDOT in July 1998. Duda advanced through various positions in District 12, serving as Pavement Engineer, Planning and Programming Engineer, Traffic Engineer, and Acting Plans Engineer. She was appointed Assistant District Executive for Design in July 2010 and acted as the Assistant District Executive for Construction for five months in 2020.
"We welcome Rachel's expertise as she continues to provide leadership to the Department of Transportation," said Deputy Secretary for Highway Administration Michael W. Rebert, P.E.
In addition to having more than 25 years of extensive experience in all facets of PennDOT, Duda was a part-time professor at the Pennsylvania State University– Eberly Campus for four years, teaching Engineering Graphics and Design. She has been a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania since April 2003.
Duda will now be responsible for administering an annual operating budget of $300 million and a team of nearly 800 employees.
District 12 encompasses 10 cities and 193 municipalities in the Commonwealth's southwest counties of Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland. It owns and maintains approximately 2,349 bridges, 3,600 miles of roadway, 164 miles of bicycle routes, and thousands of additional assets.
She lives on a farm in Luzerne Township, Fayette County with her husband Mark and two teenage children. Their son is a mechanical engineering student at the Pennsylvania State University – Eberly Campus, and their daughter is a professional mogul skier who studies and trains at Killington Mountain School in Vermont and competes around the world.
Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following local alerts on X.
Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties at District 12.
Information about infrastructure in District 12, including completed work and significant projects, is available at District 12 Accomplishments and PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at PA Transportation Projects.
Find PennDOT news on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact: Laina Aquiline, laquiline@pa.gov or 724.415.3748
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