Great Lakes Wire

Registered professional engineer Brad Wieferich has been named acting director of the Michigan Department of Transportation, replacing Director Paul Ajegba who will retire at the end of 2022.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Dec. 2 Wieferich’s selection along with others who will lead state departments and state agencies for four years as well as staff promotions in the executive office, a news release said. 

“I’m very pleased to have played a key role in helping the governor deliver on her signature promise to rebuild our state’s vital transportation infrastructure,” Ajegba said in the release. “My team has achieved unprecedented success in rebuilding roads and bridges the past four years. I am eager to see what else they accomplish.”

Brad Wieferich, acting director of the Michigan Department of Transportation. | https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradley-wieferich-2b572488/overlay/photo/

Without raising taxes, the state fixed 1,200 bridges and 16,000 lane miles of road to support 89,000 jobs under Ajegba’s leadership, the release said. Ajegba worked to establish in 2013 MDOT’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities Transportation Diversity Recruitment Program. Approximately 300 students have participated in the program to date.

Before Wieferich’s appointment in May 2022 as the chief operations officer of the Transportation Department, he served in several positions, including director of MDOT's Bureau of Development and as engineer of design. 

He has a bachelor’s degree from the College of Engineering at Michigan State University.

Rob Coppersmith, executive vice president of the Michigan Infrastructure & Transportation Association, praised Wieferich.

“Brad Wieferich will do a great job leading MDOT through future challenges as we work together to make Michigan’s transportation work the best in the nation,” Coppersmith said in the release. “His proven leadership on the Rebuilding Michigan Program, in engineering and in a variety of transportation posts will help him build on MDOT’s great work.”

Coppersmith also thanked Ajegba for his work.

“Under his tenure we fixed [state] roads, 16,000 lane miles of them, as well as 1,200 bridges, all while supporting 89,000 jobs for Michiganders,” Coppersmith said. “That work had made a real difference for our state, and we could not be more grateful.”