Uniontown, PA- Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 12 has announced that District Executive Bill Kovach retires today after 37 years in service to the Commonwealth. District Bridge Engineer Jeremey Hughes will serve as Acting District Executive (DE) beginning Saturday, October 28, until Kovach's permanent replacement is named.

Bill has overseen nearly 800 employees since he assumed the top leadership position in 2020. In 2009, when he became Assistant District Executive (ADE) for Design, then Construction, 713 of the district's 2,340 bridges - 30.5 percent - were in poor condition. It is 10.6 percent today. He has been involved in managing 821 projects with a value of $2.6 billion in the last 14 years as ADE and DE.

Bill lives in the tiny borough of Greensboro in rural Greene County, two houses from where he grew-up. He received his civil engineering degree from West Virginia University, became a Civil Engineer 2 at PennDOT District 12 in 1986, and never left.

"There has never been a day I didn't want to be here," said Kovach, "but now it's time to retire. I have grandchildren I want to spend time with, do some babysitting, and help my kids with their home projects."

"Bill has been a real asset to PennDOT for over 35 years," said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. "He has been an incredibly capable leader. District 12's team, as well as the people of southwestern Pennsylvania, have benefited from his leadership."
Jeremy Hughes' PennDOT journey began as a Senior Civil Engineer Supervisor (Bridge) within Engineering District 12 in 2008. Jeremy has remained in District 12, serving as Assistant District Bridge Engineer before being appointed District Bridge Engineer in 2018 and later Acting ADE for Design in 2020.

Jeremy holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from The University of Toledo. He received his professional engineer's license in Pennsylvania in 2003 and resides in the Masontown area with his wife Bethany and their two children.

He will now be responsible for planning and supervising the state highway system in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties. Within the four counties, PennDOT owns and maintains 3,627 total road miles and 2,340 total bridges.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadways by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information and access to more than 1,000 traffic cameras. 511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following local alerts on X.

Subscribe to PennDOT news and traffic alerts in Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland counties at District 12.

Information about infrastructure in District 12, including completed work and significant projects, is available at District 12 Accomplishments and PennDOT's planned and active construction projects at PA Transportation Projects.

Find PennDOT news on X,Facebook, and Instagram.

Contact: Laina Aquiline, [email protected] or 724.415.3748

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