Panel: Eliminate 100 Transportation Jobs

A study committee has decided to ask the state Department of Transportation to do more with less.

Meeting at the Statehouse on Thursday, members voted to recommend elimination of 100 positions from the agency over the next three years. The department currently has about 1,800 employees.

The panel has been looking for ways to put more money into highway construction and maintenance. Lawmakers noted it costs an average of $42,000 for Transportation Department employees.

Eliminating 100 positions would save $4.2 million. Committee members urged Director Dwight Bower to eliminate the positions through attribution, not layoffs.