DOT outlines staffing, funding and construction challenges as committee readies capital budget

David Rodrigue, assistant commissioner and chief engineer for the Department of Transportation, told the Public Works and Highways committee at its orientation meeting that the agency is meeting core responsibilities but cannot do all the projects it would like because of staffing and funding constraints. "We are accomplishing what we need to, but we're not able to do all the things that we think we should be doing," Rodrigue said.

Rodrigue gave a high-level organizational overview and presented data the department cited as central to its near-term planning: 1,651 permanent DOT positions and about 404 current vacancies (roughly 24 percent of the workforce); a statewide asset inventory that includes 2,160 state-owned bridges (Rodrigue said 115 are on the department's "red list"); a target of paving about 500 centerline miles per year; and a FY2024 expenditures total the presentation listed as $702,000,000. Rodrigue said about 56 percent of that FY2024 figure — roughly $400 million — went to municipal aid, construction,…