Cohan To Replace Bhatt at DelDOT

DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt will be replaced by DMV Director Jennifer Cohan. Photo credit: Jim Westhoff, DelDOT

Gov. Jack Markell announced last week that he will nominate Jennifer Cohan, the Director of the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, to replace Shailen Bhatt as the secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT).

Bhatt is resigning to become the executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation.

During his tenure as secretary, Bhatt adopted a conservative “pay-as-you-go” debt reduction strategy that slashed DeDOT’s long-term debt; led a capital budget strategy that prioritized “state of good repair” and asset protection; and simultaneously saw Delaware’s national ranking for “bicycle friendliness” leap from the 30s to #4.

Under “pay-as-you-go“, the Department’s service on its debt fell by nearly 20%, from $134 million (FY 12) to $109 million (FY 15).

Keeping Delaware’s existing transportation system in a state of good repair was an escalating challenge for Bhatt as the Department wrestled with an estimated $160 million estimate to fix accelerating deterioration of major interstate spans over the next 10 years, including the I-95 Brandywine Creek bridge and the Wilmington Viaduct.

While Bhatt was secretary from 2011 and 2014, Delaware advanced farther and faster than any other state in the “bicycle friendly” rankings of the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). In 2010, Delaware was only ranked in the 30s. But the state sustained an uninterrupted four-year climb in the rankings because of leadership from Governor Markell, the General Assembly, DelDOT and DNREC. DelDOT and DNREC cooperated to create the innovative “First State Trails and Pathways” plan and the state moved aggressively to fund the projects in the plan. DelDOT, in particular, was creative in using discretionary federal transportation dollars for cycling that had never before been used by the Department for cycling projects.

DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt and DNREC Secretary Collin O’Mara preparing to announce Delaware’s Bicycle Friendly State ranking at the 2013 Walkable Bikeable Delaware Summit.

Secretary Bhatt’s replacement will be Jennifer Cohan. Cohan has worked in state government for over 25 years. She was appointed director of the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles in 2007 and has also held other leadership roles at DelDOT in Planning, Finance and Motor Carrier Safety.

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