Speakers

Carrie Wallis is a Senior Sector Manager for the West in the Department of Transportation Business at AtkinsRéalis. She has used her engineering background to positively impact local projects by bringing a sensitive and sustainable approach to transportation engineering with a focus on livability and community-focused solutions. Her varied transportation experience includes National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), planning, engineering, and complex project management including the recent completion of the I-70 East Environmental Impact Statement, one of the largest transportation endeavors undertaken by the Colorado Department of Transportation. I-70 is one of Colorado's economic backbones and is located within minority and low-income communities in Denver, Colorado. CDOT conducted unprecedented public outreach, stakeholder engagement, and agency coordination as part of an effort to reconstruct a 12-mile stretch of interstate for a construction cost of $1.2B. The project has nearly 150 mitigation commitments to the local community as part of the project, ranging from mitigating the impacts of construction noise and dust to contributing funding to affordable housing and fresh food access. Fifteen of these commitments are specific to environmental justice, going above and beyond typical mitigation measures, and are new to Colorado, having never been provided as part of a major infrastructure project.