Fayette County native Rachel Duda takes over reins of PennDOT District 12

A 1984 fire that destroyed Rachel Duda’s childhood home in Fayette County had a major impact on her life in more ways than one.

For two years, Duda lived with relatives in California. That’s where she set her mind on a career in civil engineering, one that has led her to the top leadership role at PennDOT District 12.

Duda reported to work Tuesday in her new role as district executive, following more than 25 years of experience at PennDOT.

“I feel incredibly honored to lead the District 12 team and serve the residents of Western Pennsylvania,” Duda said.

District 12 includes Westmoreland, Fayette, Washington and Greene counties.

Duda served as assistant district executive for design beginning in July 2010 and acted as assistant district executive for construction for five months in 2020. Her other roles have included pavement engineer, planning and programming engineer, traffic engineer and acting plans engineer.

Duda said her pursuit of an engineering career was influenced partly by inclination and partly by the example set by two relatives.

“I always knew that I wanted to be an engineer,” she said. “I loved math and science more than I did art. I was more into helping others figure out problems.”

After her family’s Masontown home burned, Duda learned about the successful engineering careers of her California relations — a grandfather who worked on homes and other buildings and an uncle whose construction firm worked on the Alaskan oil pipeline.

“They brought home some blueprints and told me they were civil engineers,” she said. “It was interesting to see what they were doing. They seemed to enjoy their jobs.”

After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering at Penn State, Duda worked for six months as a transportation engineer with consulting firm HDR. She joined PennDOT in July 1998.

She said road safety has been her top concern during her career at PennDOT and will continue to be so as she takes on administration of nearly 800 employees and an annual budget of about $300 million for the district.

“Improving safety and saving lives are my main goals,” she said.

That’s why, Duda said, she went from being an initial skeptic to a strong advocate for installation of roundabouts at key intersections. With a roundabout, she noted, all traffic moves in one direction and potentially dangerous left turns are eliminated.

“Not everyone loves roundabouts, but they are adding so many safety benefits, and the queuing of traffic is improving so much,” she said. “The capacity is just as great without adding two or three left-turn lanes.”

Moving forward, Duda said she also has a goal of improving public involvement for input on project plans, a process that has shifted more toward virtual and online presentations since the covid pandemic.

“We have to make sure we get out and tell the public what is going on,” she said. “When we don’t have a chance to get out and tell people what expectations there are, that’s when (a project) becomes more challenging.”

She additionally is embracing an “asset management” approach that looks to get the most life out of a bridge or stretch of pavement at the lowest cost.

“It promotes the right treatment at the right time, with an emphasis on preservation, rather than focusing too heavily on assets in poor condition,” she said. She explained that could mean maintaining a bridge in a state of “poor condition” for many years, as long as it remains safe for motorists to use.

Duda is among the few women who have held district executive posts within PennDOT. Cheryl Moon-Sirianni recently retired from that role in neighboring District 11, which covers Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties.

Duda replaces Bill Kovach, who retired as District 12 executive at the end of October.

“We welcome Rachel’s expertise as she continues to provide leadership to the Department of Transportation,” said Michael W. Rebert, deputy secretary for highway administration.

Duda said she wants to encourage greater diversity and inclusivity in the District 12 workforce. She recalled how, in her first days at PennDOT, she was mentored by Wendy Brunory — the first female engineer at District 12, who is now retired.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have some strong female mentors and male mentors who have given me plenty of good advice,” she said.”That’s one thing that has helped me to get to the position I’m at — people who continued to push me, sometimes beyond my own comfort zone. That really gave me confidence.”

Duda has paid it forward, serving as a mentor to others in her field, participating in local STEAM educational programs and teaching engineering graphics and design part-time for four years at Penn State’s Eberly Campus in Fayette County.

“It’s not an easy path for anyone to get through engineering,” she said. “If you can do it, you can do anything. Don’t be intimidated by anything.”