JEFFERSON CITY • Missouri Department of Transportation Director Kevin Keith stepped down Thursday for an undisclosed medical reason and will retire effective July 1.
Keith, 52, was named director in November 2010 following a national search. Keith, who was MoDOT chief engineer at the time, replaced former director Pete Rahn, who took a job in the private sector.
MoDOT’s current chief engineer, Dave Nichols, takes over as interim director and will serve in that role for at least a year, according to a news release. Nichols has been with the Missouri Department of Transportation for 29 years.
MoDOT officials said Keith was taking a medical leave of absence effective immediately.
“It was certainly nothing that we had planned for or were aware of,” said Joe Carmichael, chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. “We’re at a critical point on a number of things, and we wanted to move forward. So we’ve moved very quickly.”
Carmichael would not discuss the nature of the condition that led to Keith’s taking a medical leave. Keith was not taking telephone calls Thursday, according to a MoDOT spokeswoman. He did not return an email seeking comment.
Keith led the Department of Transportation’s sweeping reorganization during the past 18 months. Last year, he pitched the idea of using tolls to rebuild Interstate 70 between St. Louis and Kansas City. The idea never garnered significant support in the state Legislature.
This year, Missouri lawmakers are considering a measure that would ask Missouri voters to tax themselves to rebuild I-70 and for other transportation projects. The proposal cleared the state Senate last week.
“It is very important that our friends in the Legislature know we have someone at the helm who has all of the same information and all of the leadership qualities as Kevin,” Carmichael said.
Prior to his stint as chief MoDOT engineer, Keith had served as transportation planning director. Before that, he was MoDOT’s northwest district engineer based in St. Joseph.
Keith characterized his November 2010 appointment as a vote of confidence in the agency.
He was appointed six months after Rahn left MoDOT to become national transportation practice leader for Kansas City-based engineering firm HNTB. Rahn had led MoDOT for about 5½ years.
