North Carolina Turnpike Authority merges into N.C. Department of Transportation
Call it the government version of a merger: The staff of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority got new bosses on June 1 as their integration into the North Carolina Department of Transportation kicked into a higher gear.
The turnpike, which is responsible for building toll roads in the state, was created as an independent agency in 2002. But Gov. Beverly Perdue decided to roll the authority into NCDOT last year.
As part of that decision, Executive Director David Joyner already had been reporting to NCDOT Chief Operating Officer Jim Trogdon. But NCDOT announced at its monthly meeting this week that the rest of the authority’s senior staff will now report directly to executive staff within the department instead of having their own separate reporting structure.
“This is just the next step to further integrate them,” says NCDOT spokesman Ted Vaden.
Despite the changes, the authority will continue to have a board, which will act in an advisory capacity and possibly could have other roles as well. Joyner also remains the executive director of the authority, which will operate as a unit of NCDOT.
The authority, which employs 23 people, currently is housed in office space on Glenwood Avenue, but Vaden says it will be moved to the Transportation Building in downtown Raleigh within several months.
Thursday, June 3, 2010, 2:25pm EDT | Modified: Thursday, June 3, 2010, 4:43pm
Triangle Business Journal – by Chris Baysden
