KC Scout Shout!

Michael E. Rinehart – KDOT District Engineer (District One) Michael E. Rinehart has been selected as the new District Engineer for District One, Northeast Kansas.  Michael, a graduate of the University of North Dakota, was previously the Metro Engineer for the Olathe Office, a position he has held for the last 5 years. Prior to joining KDOT, Michael worked for the Missouri Department of Transportation for over 27 years.  Michael brings a wide variety of experience into this position, and we look forward to his leadership for District One.

The Kansas Department of Transportation offers a Rotational Training Program (RTP) and is intended for new Engineering Associates. This program gives EAs the opportunity to visit multiple sections of KDOT, to gain experience and insight into what each section does to bring a project together from start to finish. EAs complete rotations that last anywhere from half a day to twelve weeks each. The purpose of the RTP is to provide excellent on-the-job training and encourage job satisfaction and employee retention. There are currently 22 stops in the program and the stops account for 42 weeks’ worth of content, and the EAs are given 10 weeks of elective content to help them make their choice on where they’d prefer to work after their first year.  This program originally came about in the 1960s, and it has been offered by KDOT off and on over the years since then. Most recently, COVID brought the program to a halt, but it was brought it back in late 2023. Kylee Sims has been th...

You can never be too prepared for the 2026 FIFA World Cup coming to Kansas City. Kelly Alvarez, Traffic System Operator, Randy Johnson, KC Scout Manager, Marcus Slaughter, Incident Management Coordinator, and Michael Flory, KDOT Liaison, joined the Johnson County (KS) Emergency Management monthly workshop on Wednesday, January 29 at their facility.  The focus of this workshop was preparedness and response for the World Cup. They discussed following objectives during a tabletop exercise: ·        Enhance interagency communication and coordination. ·        Identify and address resource and staffing needs. ·        Maintain community lifelines and essential services. As various communities around the metro begin to plan for the influx of visitors and demand it will have on the transportation network, KC Scout will continue to be a partner at these types of discussions. 

On Friday, January 31, KC Scout hosted Rylee Sanchez, ATMS Technician I, and Cody Harris, ATMS Operations Supervisor, from the Olathe Traffic Management Center.  This stemmed from a KC2026 Transportation working meeting with Kelly Alvarez, Traffic System Operator, Randy Johnson, KC Scout Manager, and Noel Forrester, Traffic Operations Manager. Noel had expressed interest in having his team tour KC Scout and learn about our operations. We’ve coordinated with their operations before but typically only for major incidents in their region. During the tour of KC Scout, Rylee and Cody learned about Scout’s history, our staffing structure, operational flow, innovations, and challenges in TIM efforts. Additionally, James Banhart, Scout AM Shift Supervisor, provided a demonstration of Scout’s ATMS which Rylee and Cody expressed genuine interest in since they also use an ATMS with their operations. Rylee and Cody provided an overview of what Olathe Traffic Management Center does including ...

On Wednesday, November 27 th KC Scout members came together for an annual potluck called Gravy and Gratitude.

On Thursday, October 31, Traffic Systems Supervisor, Kelly Alvarez and TMC AM Shift Supervisor James Banhart teamed up and dressed as Rey and Jedi from Star Wars for the MoDOT Halloween Contest!