Abbitt Chosen as County Road Commission Engineer
Began October 1; Will Replace Kelso
By Amy Polk

Karrie Abbitt is Mackinac County's new Road Commission engineer manager.

Mackinac County's new road commission manager and engineer, Karrie Abbitt, brings a wide range of experience to the position. She started working here Monday, October 1.

Growing up in the Detroit area "where the roads are really bad," she thought she might someday make a difference by improving road conditions, she said. Her experience with some of the worst roads in the state of Michigan taught her how roads can degrade from intense use and a lack of funds in the cashstrapped city. Her interest in fixing roads, coupled with her love of mathematics, science, and problem solving, inspired her to become an engineer.

She earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Michigan Technological University in Houghton, and previously worked with the Michigan Department of Transportation in Sterling Heights and Illinois Department of Transportation in Ottawa, Illinois, before moving back to Michigan in 2003. She has been working as a transportation engineer for Michigan Department of Transportation's Newberry office since April 2003, when she and her husband, John, moved to Hessel. Mr. Abbitt works as the plant manager of Oglebay Norton's limestone quarry in Cedarville.

Mrs. Abbitt applied for the Mackinac County Road Commission manager and engineer position so she could be closer to home and to concentrate her efforts on Mackinac County roads. The drive to the St. Ignace office will be only 30 minutes each way, compared to the 1.5-hour drive to Newberry; she previously covered the three-county area of Chippewa, Mackinac, and Luce through her work with MDOT.

For the past four years, Mrs. Abbitt has found herself working on a road system vastly different from the urban roads of her youth. The Eastern Upper Peninsula's long expanses of road see less traffic, but share the same economic challenges as those in urban Detroit. Her work with MDOT included assisting the resident engineer with administering highway construction projects, inspections, field work, coordinating law enforcement overtime patrols for construction projects, processing sign requests, conducting work zone safety reviews, compiling crash analysis reports, reviewing road plans, and performing traffic studies. She also reviewed and approved permit applications, checked permit compliance, determined the need for relocating utilities for road construction projects, and developed contract proposals for preventive maintenance, traffic and safety, and roadside improvement projects.

"I have a lot of experience handling construction projects and coordinating with local agencies, and I think that work has prepared me for this," she said.

Her predecessor in the Mackinac County job, Craig Kelso, said perhaps the most challenging part of the job is providing equivalent services to everyone, because every area of the county is unique, and has so many different needs. There are four school systems in the county, roads that lead to camps and outposts, high-traffic resort areas, or well-used roads in communities with year-around populations, he said, citing some of the different characteristics within the county.

When she addresses these challenges herself, Mrs. Abbitt plans to emphasize safety when prioritizing the county projects. She wants to make decisions based on good, sound engineering judgment.

"Obviously, there are way more projects than there's money available for," she said. "You have to get your priorities lined up, and first and foremost is the safety of the traveling public. I think the direction the county has been going in now is good."

She wants to continue the Mackinac County Road Commission's work of constantly trying to improve existing roads through paving, infrastructure improvements, and the tar and chip process that has been used extensively throughout the county. On gravel roads, it preserves the surface and slows the erosion of the road until it can be paved, while on paved road, it has been estimated to extend the road's life by 10 years.

Tar and chip, or "chip seal," is a road improvement process that has expanded and improved under Mr. Kelso's administration, along with other improvement techniques like patching, hot mix wedging to reinforce disintegrating portions of the road, and subgrade strengthening.

Mr. Kelso is proud of what he has accomplished during his eight years as engineer, and believes the road commission has been able to fix many roads throughout the county because of "our improved knowledge and our abilities of improving roads."

"We've done a lot of things," he said. "We've improved a lot of facilities, there's a higher level of winter maintenance, and we've improved a lot of roads within the confines of a limited budget and dwindling resources."

Michigan Transportation Funding from gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees has been declining over the years. Mr. Kelso said having an "in-house" engineer, however, saves taxpayers money by allowing the road commission to oversee its own work "within the confines of our abilities and the needs of our transportation system." This means cost adjustments on a project can be made on the spot, instead of sending it back to a private engineer for each project to be adjusted.

The most enjoyable part of his job, he said, has been assisting a diverse and rural county like Mackinac get its residents "out of the mud and out of the dust" by paving, raising, and resurfacing routes that are important to people and the local economy.

Mr. Kelso will remain in his position as engineer through January 7, 2008, before moving on to work in Schoolcraft County. Mrs. Abbitt will transition into his position over the next three months.

"I'm looking forward to working with the Road Commission, and hopefully it will be a smooth transition for everyone," Mrs. Abbitt said. "I'll miss working at MDOT Newberry Transportation Service Center. It's been a great place to work."