Calvin Reed recently completed his second year as Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT). Reed was confirmed as Secretary on January 25, 2024, approved unanimously 38-0, with bipartisan support, by the Senate Committee on Transportation. In state fiscal year 2024, KDOT let more than $850 million in construction projects on about 1,800 roadway miles and 114 bridges.
In addition, Reed is the Director of the Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA), responsible for daily administration of the toll roads, bridges, structures, and facilities constructed, maintained, or operated by the KTA.
Reed is a native-born fifth-generation Kansan who grew up on his family farm near Melvern, Kansas, in Osage County. These formative years influenced him.
“It’s where I learned the value of hard work as an individual,” he said at his confirmation hearing, “and how teamwork can be used to multiply the impact of individual effort.”
While relatively new to KDOT’s top leadership role, Reed is no newcomer to the agency, nor the transportation business, in which he has worked for over 21 years.
| Your local Esco Corporation dealer |
|---|
| Genalco |
His career with KDOT started in 2002 after completing a master’s degree in civil engineering at Kansas State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree a year before, also in civil engineering. In 2016, he moved to the private sector, joining Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) in Wichita, Kansas, where he led PEC’s transportation division.
In 2019, he returned to KDOT to lead the bridge department, an area of expertise for Reed, particularly with bridge design and maintenance. He then served as KDOT’s Director of Engineering and Design from August 2020 until being named Acting Secretary in December 2022.
As a subject matter expert in bridge asset management, Reed has worked on some of KDOT’s most challenging bridge projects, including the more than 60-year-old 18th Street Bridge over the Kansas River in Kansas City. In 2017, an inspection at the 18th Street Bridge revealed corrosion and cracking. The need for immediate repairs caused an eight-month closure. The repairs extended the life of the bridge, but replacement is on the horizon.
Another challenge emerged after a 2021 fatality at a Comanche County highway bridge. In studying the safety aspects at that particular bridge, Reed’s team used that analysis to start a broader conversation about developing a statewide review of bridges that might present similar hazards. With this new approach, Reed wanted to develop a way to programmatically look at an entire class of bridges, not just one structure at a time.
| Your local Trimble Construction Division dealer |
|---|
| SITECH Northeast |
That approach led to creating KDOT’s Bridge and Culvert Railing Program, which identifies, evaluates, and prioritizes replacement projects. The first project from that program is currently under construction, and there are 50 more projects in design.
During Reed’s confirmation hearing, then-Senator Rick Wilborn complimented Reed’s work and response to the bridge disaster and his focus on safety.
“I want to say thank you for doing that,” Wilborn said. “The people out in Comanche County and Barber County appreciated you getting out there quickly to take care of that problem.”
Reed’s larger work with the Legislature was recognized in comments by Democratic Senators Renee Erickson and Ethan Corson, the Ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee. As the hearing closed, Corson took the opportunity to commend Reed “for what I view as your really strong leadership.” He said that the KDOT team under Reed (who at the time was KDOT Acting Secretary) is responsive and that Reed’s team was “doing really good things for the state of Kansas. I look forward to continuing to work with you.”
| Your local Volvo Construction Equipment dealer |
|---|
| Tyler Equipment |
At the close of the confirmation hearing, Committee Chairman Wilborn asked Reed to identify the biggest challenge he was facing at the start of his leadership. His answer: workforce. He added that workforce challenges extended well beyond his agency, to all sectors of the transportation industry.
“I look forward to working with the legislature on how we can address workforce issues going forward,” Reed said to the committee.
As Secretary, one of Reed’s 2025 strategic plan goals is the successful start of a new career path-based progression program for highway maintenance workers. As this gets fully implemented in 2026, Reed will look to build off that success and develop similar career paths for other classifications.
Reed raised concerns about fundamental, structural workforce issues “in many core areas of the transportation industry.” As an example, he cited the decline in the number of licensed land surveyors in Kansas and noted that their average age was 59.8. He added that just one school in Kansas has a surveyor program — Kansas Community College in Kansas City.
| Your local Wirtgen America dealer |
|---|
| United Construction & Forestry |
| WI Clark |
“I think there needs to be a real collaborative effort between industry, academia, and state government to figure out where these core issues are,” Reed said to the committee, “and let's work together and figure out how we can help put a sustainable model [in place] going forward.”
Reed has reiterated his continuing concerns about the workforce. He said that KDOT competes “against a lot of other industries for a very limited pool of skilled people,” a reality that impacts project development and delivery timetables. He noted that workforce challenges are impacting KDOT partners in the construction and consulting industries.
KDOT has two youth career development programs. One is called MAGIC (Mentoring a Girl in Construction). It is a one-week summer camp in Topeka, Kansas, for high school girls aged 14 or older to become familiar with the skilled trades — carpentry, safety, electrical, and highway construction. The instructors are women working in these fields. Reed participates as a guest speaker at a special event session on the camp’s last day.
STEM Camp is another KDOT initiative to introduce kids to construction careers. STEM Camp is also in Topeka, at the Washburn University campus, and there is a session at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kansas. STEM has a broader focus, introducing kids to all modes of transportation, from highways to rail, air, and water.
| Your local Case Construction Equipment Inc dealer |
|---|
| Beauregard Equipment |
| Monroe Tractor |
Kansas has a major standalone infrastructure program called the Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program (IKE). It is a 10-year program that will eventually invest nearly $10 billion into the state's transportation infrastructure. The multimodal program focuses on improvements across numerous modes, including highways, bridges, public transit, aviation, short-line rail, and bike/pedestrian paths.
KDOT is making progress on the program, with milestones coming up in 2026. Reed noted that IKE is at the midpoint of its 10-year schedule and added that KDOT and its contracting partners are delivering on the promises within the program. He credits the program’s success to the following accomplishments, as well as the ability to recover from early disruptions caused by COVID-19 and subsequent inflation.
IKE accomplishments in 2025 included the start of construction at the Polk-Quincy Viaduct on I-70 in Topeka, the expansion of K-10 around the southwest side of Lawrence, Kansas, and the East Kellogg (U.S. 54/400) expansion between Wichita and Andover, Kansas.
Funding has been directed to numerous non-roadway projects. In 2025, the agency awarded more than $14 million to fund 47 projects at local airports through the Kansas Airport Improvement Program. It awarded more than $11 million to local communities to fund 21 local transportation projects. In early 2026, the agency also awarded just over $11 million to fund rail service improvements.
| Your local Hyundai dealer |
|---|
| Equipment East |
Reed noted that as 2026 starts, KDOT’s team is wrapping up the preparatory work for a number of significant projects let early in the IKE program. Reed referenced the U.S. 69 Express project in Overland Park, and he particularly pointed out that this will be KDOT’s first use of managed toll lanes. One big challenge on the radar will be planning and constructing new transportation improvements needed for the Kansas City Chiefs’ new stadium. Anticipated in 2031, the Chiefs plan to move from Kansas City, Missouri, across the river to Kansas City, Kansas, in Wyandotte County. The move will have big impacts on the I-435 and I-70 corridors.
In addition to the stadium, the Chiefs are also building a new headquarters and training facility in Olathe, Kansas, which is located in Johnson County.
In transportation, project needs tend to outweigh available resources. When facing a bevy of demands across a very large state, Reed said that “every decision requires an evaluation of tradeoffs.” He referenced a process underway in Kansas that helps state officials better understand the local dynamics around those tradeoffs.
This process is KDOT’s biennial “Local Consult,” a series of public meetings across the state at which Kansans provide input on potential transportation projects in their region. That input is used by KDOT officials when selecting what projects to fund for further development.
| Your local Esco Corporation dealer |
|---|
| Genalco |
“This regional input is combined with known engineering factors, so we are confident that the projects being developed and constructed are addressing the engineering problem and the emerging needs and opportunities across the state,” Reed said.
More than 1,000 Kansans participated in the Local Consult meetings held in October 2025. Reed presented at each of the eight in-person meetings, along with members of his leadership team. During the meetings, participants worked in breakout groups to discuss a list of potential highway projects in their region. Through facilitated conversations, groups identified what projects are their top priorities and why.
In a press release for meetings held at the end of 2025, Reed emphasized that the department wants to “hear directly from Kansans about what transportation improvements are important to them. Those attending the Local Consult meetings will be providing input on what projects KDOT should prioritize for future infrastructure improvements.”
Finally, a core priority for Reed is sustainability, taking care of the current system and being smart now regarding decisions for future investments. When it comes to his perspective on sustainability and how it impacts project and policy choices, Reed said that system preservation was identified as a top priority for the IKE program and was a key concern within the legislation that established IKE.
| Your local Esco Corporation dealer |
|---|
| Genalco |
He noted that sustainable preservation acknowledges the need for consistent funding to support investments that minimize future maintenance costs. Additionally, Reed said, officials need to consider future long-term maintenance and preservation costs when prioritizing projects that could make Kansas’ transportation system larger.
