Ohio, local officials mourn former ODOT director, Licking County engineer Jerry Wray
Kent Mallett
NEWARK − Jerry Wray, a Newark resident elected Licking County engineer before rising to become the only two-time director of the Ohio Department of Transportation, has died.
Gov. George Voinovich appointed Wray to lead the Ohio Department of Transportation from 1991 to 1999; then Gov. John Kasich appointed Wray back into the position from 2011 to 2019. In 2021, Gov. Mike DeWine and ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks unveiled signage renaming the ODOT headquarters in Columbus as the Ohio Department of Transportation Jerry Wray Building.
DeWine released a statement on the loss:
"Fran and I were saddened to learn of the death of our friend Jerry Wray," DeWine said. "I first met Jerry in 1989 when he was Licking County Engineer. As lieutenant governor, I got to work closely with him.
"Jerry focused on reengineering ODOT to meet the needs of the modern era during the Voinovich administration and established the Transportation Review Advisory Council to ensure Ohio has an open and transparent project selection process."
Former state Sen. Jay Hottinger said people in Newark and Licking County took pride in Wray's success.
"His fingerprints were on every big road project in Licking County and around the state," Hottinger said. "To be in the governor's cabinet is always a professional accomplishment.
"That's a high level to reach. A lot of times directors aren't household names but have significant and tremendous impact on the lives of individuals."
People sometimes assumed Licking County would benefit from having a local man high up in state government, but Hottinger said Wray was not one to play favorites.
"I found him to be impartial," Hottinger said. "I think of the word 'statesman.' It didn't hurt for him to see with his own eyes what we experienced. He was driving the same roads we drove."
The creation of the Transportation Review Advisory Council was designed to take politics out of selecting which roads would receive state funding.
"Jerry was passionate about transforming ODOT into an organization that displayed what he called ‘excellence in government,’" DeWine said. "The changes he ushered in will benefit our state for decades to come.
"Jerry was a dedicated public servant and it is fitting that the building bears his name as he was beloved and respected by ODOT employees, contractors, and everybody who came into contact with him at work and in life."
During the 2021 renaming of the ODOT headquarters, Marchbanks said, “Director Wray came to ODOT with a clear vision of what it could be and masterfully imparted that vision. He believed the job of the department was first and foremost to make people’s lives better. I can’t think of a more deserving person for this honor.”
In 2016, the Ohio 16-Cherry Valley interchange opened, ending a 30-year effort to improve safety at the busy intersection. At the ceremony, Wray said he lobbied ODOT for the interchange back in 1988, when he was county engineer. Wray said rejection from state transportation officials was swift and resounding.
"They said, 'Jerry, this will not happen in your lifetime,'" Wray said. "I never forgot it. From time to time through the years, people would ask me about it, and I said, 'I don't know. It's going to be hard.'"
Wray, along with numerous local and state officials, helped cut the ribbon for the interchange Nov. 9, 2016, on the Thornwood Crossing bridge over Ohio 16.
Licking County Commissioner Tim Bubb said Wray made several changes in the Licking County Engineer’s Office, as well as at the state level.
“He brought a new management style,” Bubb said. “He sort of streamlined it, sort of like he did at ODOT. I think he was pretty successful as a county engineer. He really knew his business and understood statewide politics.”
Before the TRAC process, Bubb said, “All the money went to the big cities, and some of the smaller counties sort of got the pennies left on the table. TRAC worked for us."
The nine-member TRAC, established by the Ohio General Assembly in 1997, oversees a selection process that includes prioritization and approval for major funding projects.
The program, administered by ODOT, considers projects with an overall cost greater than $12 million, increase capacity or reduce congestion and are critical to the mobility, economic development and quality of life for the citizens of Ohio, according to ODOT.
Wray, born in 1945, earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Akron in 1969, then began his career in ODOT’s Engineering in Training Program the same year.
He then started working at the Licking County Engineer’s Office in 1977 and was elected engineer, serving from 1980 to 1990. In between his two terms as ODOT director, Wray spent 11 years working in the private sector.
The ODOT website credits Wray for pushing the agency to adopt practices in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion while serving in the Kasich administration. ODOT states Wray’s leadership helped ODOT recruit a record number of women, minorities and veterans.
The department reorganized to help put greater emphasis on making sure public contract opportunities were available to minority and disadvantaged companies.
He also established a second-chance apprentice program to help transition ex-offenders from the Ohio Reformatory for Women into employment opportunities to prevent recidivism.
DeWine ordered U.S. and state flags be flown at half-staff at all ODOT facilities until sunset on the day of Wray's funeral, as well as at all public buildings and grounds throughout Licking County, at the Ohio Statehouse, the Vern Riffe Center and Rhodes State Office Tower from sunrise to sunset on that day.
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