Thomas Rickert, KDOT’s Deputy Director and Chief of Staff awarded the 2025 APWA Professional Manager of the Year

Along with KDOT receiving top honors for Longmeadow Parkway from APWA Chicago Metro Chapter, Thomas Rickert, KDOT’s Deputy Director and Chief of Staff, was recently awarded the 2025 APWA Professional Manager of the Year –Administrative Management for his service to Kane County and the broader Chicagoland metro area as evidenced by 37 years of leadership for Kane County, the Kane Kendall Council of Mayors as Executive Director, APWA, and CMAP serving on regional committees. During Tom’s tenure, the transportation system has expanded significantly to address substantial population growth. His involvement, oversight and efforts to improve services, processes, and programs have been hailed as examples to model after.

Many County projects have been collaborative ventures where Tom has persuaded elected leaders to pursue win-win successes. Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor, for example, involved coordination with three counties, ten municipalities, as well as IDOT and the Tollway, and simply would not have happened without that group effort. Tom also initiated or assisted with the planning and programming of many municipal and regional (non-County) projects such as the Red Gate Bridge, where he played an important role in planning, protecting right-of-way, and securing funds. With the Metra UP West Line extension to Elburn, Tom was the County’s project manager. Other efforts include various bike/ped, transit, & highway plans/projects, the Ride In Kane program serving 6,000 senior & disabled individuals, new safety processes, access control regulations, development of the Randall/Orchard corridors, and the award-winning Stearns Road’s environmental corridor that just happens to have a road in it.