NJDOT Commissioner Kris Kolluri was tapped last week to take over as CEO of the state Schools Development Authority. Kolluri assumes his new post on Dec. 1, and will be succeeded at NJDOT by current Deputy Commissioner Stephen Dilts, who previously worked at the NJ Turnpike Authority. The move leaves vacancies not only at NJDOT, but at the three other agencies chaired by the commissioner – NJTA, the South Jersey Transportation Authority, and New Jersey Transit.

At NJDOT, Kolluri maintained the agency’s dedication to “fix-it-first” policy; its fiscal year 2009 budget devoted 44% of capital spending to needed maintenance projects and only 1.5% to road expansion. Under his watch the agency administered a statewide pedestrian-and-bicycle safety program which has resulted in many worthy improvements. However, Kolluri was also charged with pushing for Gov. Corzine’s defeated “asset monetization” plan and the poorly planned widenings of the NJ Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

Among many challenges for the new NJDOT Commissioner will be ensuring that the agency remains a national leader on smart growth policy. The new commissioner will have an opportunity to jump-start the NJ Future in Transportation program, which has stalled over the last year. To reinforce this approach, the new commissioner should reconsider plans to increase road expansion funds to 7.7% of NJDOT’s capital budget in FY 2011, and should increase funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. (For more details on NJDOT’s future plans, read “Trouble Ahead?“, May ’08.)

Tri-State thanks Commissioner Kolluri for his efforts to make NJ’s transportation network more efficient and balanced, and for consistently giving advocates a fair hearing even on issues where there was disagreement. We wish him luck in his new position.