The Extra Mile Podcast
State LPA Engineer Lee Frederick

(Announcer) Coming up on this episode of The Extra Mile…

(Lee Frederick) And with this position, unlike some of the other ones I've had within the department, we see the funding, the, the, you know, the programming side of it at the very beginning, and we close the project out. So, we are with the project for every phase of its life.

(Will Craft) One might say on the hook through the whole thing.

(Lee) That's correct.

(Announcer) Did you know MDOT spends $3.2 million a year picking up litter? That's money we could use to maintain roads and bridges, patch potholes and focus on improving Mississippi's infrastructure. It's our job to pick up litter, but it's your job not to litter. Yet 62% of all Mississippi litter is deliberate. We can't do our job if you don't do yours.

Visit GoMDOT.com/DontTrashMS to learn ways you can help. Don't trash Mississippi.

[Music and Intro]

(Paul Katool) Welcome into another edition of The Extra Mile Podcast, presented by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. I'm MDOT Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Paul Katool. And, as always, I'm joined by my co-host, Will Craft. He is the Director of Public Affairs at the agency. And listen, Will, we are always blessed. We're very grateful to be able to go around the state and talk to, to guests outside of the agencies. That, that is always very, very fun. But to me, it's really nice to be able to talk to our own folks sometimes.

(Will) Right?

(Paul) Lots of different jobs that they have here at MDOT and a very, very interesting job today. We have Mr. Lee Frederick, who serves as the MDOT State LPA Engineer. That's - LPA is a local public agency. Lee, thank you so much for coming in and speaking with us today.

(Lee) But I really appreciate the opportunity to come out. Really do.

(Will) We –

(Paul) Absolutely.

(Will) We've been looking for a good reason to get you guys on. Uh, you know, several of your folks have come by and checked out the little, the set up here and have mentioned wanting to get us, get on, uh, an episode. So, we're, appreciate you joining us, man.

(Lee) Absolutely. Absolutely. Like I said, uh, likewise. I want to throw out the gratitude toward, uh, Public Affairs. If it had not been for Public Affairs division, um, I'm fairly confident that LPA would not have its current training program, which we are eternally grateful for.

(Will) Special shout out to Drew Hall there.

(Paul) Drew Hall! Well, let's just get this thing rolling. I mentioned LPA, local public agency. That's a, that's a big term. Can you go ahead and just define that for me?

(Lee) Well, so I'll be honest, there's a lot of different ways that you can interpret LPA. If you ask, uh, some of the folks, uh, that work with us, it, and, it comes across as kind of a, a dirty acronym. They may say that we’re a “Large Pain in the…” and you can fill in the blank. Um, but no. LPA is any of the, the counties, the cities, the, the towns, the, uh, the municipalities, uh, and institutions of higher learning across the state. And we get to, get to help every one of them that solicits federal funding from federal highways.

(Paul) Very interesting.

(Will) So, like, I mean, it’s essentially any like, local county government. Uh, said universities, too. I don’t know if I actually realized that they were considered LPA. Yeah, probably did, but maybe forgot it already. Uh, okay. Interesting.

(Lee) Right. So, we've had an opportunity to, uh, go out and, um, visit with Mississippi State; with, um, Ole Miss, I think, on a couple of occasions; um, Southern Miss; um, the, the, the, uh, the, uh, community college around the state, too. I think we've touched every campus. If not, we've gotten really close.

(Will) So, a big, broad, uh, category, or I guess, list of folks that, that you guys work with. Okay.

(Lee) Right. Right.

(Paul) Very cool. So, you know, we talk about a lot on the show about how, you know, we handle the state-maintained projects. Those are interstates, highways, bridges, that sort of thing. But in a roundabout way, we do, like you said, kind of work with those local, uh, local ag- local public agencies. So, can you kind of talk to us about how you work with, uh, with the LPAs?

(Lee) Absolutely. So, uh, whenever an LPA goes out and they solicit federal funds, whether it be through a, uh, earmark that they get from a, you know, a U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, and, and they're granted those, those funds, uh, we get notification of that. We reach out to the, to the entity, the LPA. We’ll say, uh, uh, To the Top down there.

(Will) Hattiesburg, yeah!

(Lee) To either Hattiesburg, Southern Miss. Yeah. Uh, one of those entities receives some sum of federal funding. We reach out to them, we activate the project, we enter into a Memorandum of Agreement, and we walk them through the, uh, the federal aid process. So, a lot of times they will, um, they will procure a consultant to kind of help with all the design and, um, all the paperwork, the red tape, if you will, that they kind of goes along with those funds. And we just try to make sure that every step is followed.

(Will) So, you guys are, you're not actually designing or constructing the project, just kind of facilitating the funding of it to the local?

(Lee) We're just trying to make sure that all the rules are followed. And with this position, unlike some of the other ones I've had within the department, we see the funding, the, the, you know, the programming side of it at the very beginning, and we close the project out. So, we are with the project for every phase of its life.

(Will) One might say on the hook through the whole thing.

(Lee) That's correct.

(Paul) There you go.

(Will) Got to stay on top of it.

(Paul) And so, you know, you're talking roads and bridges, but that's just not what LPA does. So, they, it could even be like sidewalks, right?

(Lee) That's correct. So, we, we run the entire gambit. I think we've, uh, last year one of the transportation alternative projects – or it may have been two years ago – uh, we had a, uh, like a horse trail, uh, down in District 6 that was awarded. Uh, we've had, you know, from that end of the spectrum all the way over to the Lake Harbor Bridge that, uh, that spans I-55.

(Will) Oh yeah.

(Lee) I mean, we have a little bit of everything.

(Paul) Very cool.

(Will) Yeah. And I mean, we're, and we're gonna get into some of those projects, too, here, in just a second. One thing I want to make sure I mentioned: so, as far as like, the makeup of your team, all the folks that do all this work we're talking about, so, is it just engineers in your group?

(Lee) Absolutely not. No, um, we - it is a strong team that I have down in LPA Division. It’s made up of, uh, engineers, non-engineers and everyone that works down there. And I don't mind. Um, I have, let's see, we've got Mitchell Young, my assistant, uh, who is an engineer, obviously, the Assistant LPA Engineer, State LPA Engineer. Um, Will Andrews. He is, uh, also a relatively new asset to the division. He's overseeing, uh, all of the City of Jackson projects and actually is the District LPA Engineer with them.

Then we have, uh, Paula Morgan, Lindsey Killebrew, Donna Ellis and Callie Rush, um, and they are, uh, pretty much what makes the program run as it should. They are the, uh, the, the folks behind the scenes that you never get to see. Uh, if you have the privilege of talking to them, you actually speak to intelligent folks in my division, which is, uh, which is a blessing.

(Will) It's good to have those.

(Lee) Oh, yeah. Yeah. Without a doubt. And then as you expand beyond the administration building here, you have, uh, uh, LPA Engineers across the state. District 1, you have Travis Wampler, Jeff Wages. District 2, you have Brian Copeland. 3, Lauren Landers. Uh, 5, Josh Tillery. 6, you have Chuck Starita, and 7, you have, uh, Randy Dickerson and, um, Ms. Nellie Wimberly.

(Will) Nice.

(Lee) So, the folks around the state that I just named in each one of the respective districts, those are the individuals that will help the entity through the day to day activities, getting the project off the ground, keeping it moving so that, uh, you don't lose funding – because some of these funds have sunset dates – um, and that making sure that every box gets checked throughout the process.

(Will) Like that.

(Paul) It’s an interesting process.

(Will) You know, I'm sure it is a little bit of a burden just having to, you know, be a part of it. And it's not our project, and funds going somewhere else and, you know, just adding kind of another layer to it. But, you know, in an effort to kind of keep that decentralized momentum, you do have folks spread out around the state. It’s not like everything has to come right, right here –

(Lee) Right. Right.

(Will) So, I'm sure the folks out there appreciate that. Uh, but one thing you mentioned, what do you think you make up is of engineers and non-engineers probaby?

(Lee) Uh, within my office it's, uh, five out of eight –

(Will) Ok.

(Lee) – are, are non-engineers.

(Paul) Oh, wow. Oh, wow.

(Will) And that's, you know, shameless plug here for recruiting purposes. Um, uh, something I felt, feel like I’m made aware of continually: when I came to MDOT, you know, just think it's engineering. It's a lot of engineers in here, but there are plenty of positions and work to be done, uh, by non-engineers. So, you know, just if you think, “Well, I'm not an engineer, I don't have any reason to go check out what MDOT’s hiring for.” Think again. Go take a look. Um, obviously, we got the Public Affairs division here. We're not, not any of us are engineers. But, uh, even spread out through some of these other divisions you might think are more engineering focused, um, you got positions available. So, uh, always check out what we got hired out there.

(Paul) No doubt. And I want to piggyback on that a little bit. You know, me and Will generally love our jobs at MDOT.

(Will) It’s true.

(Paul) We get to do a podcast. That's pretty cool. So, Lee, I know you, you've been at MDOT. You've been a consultant as well. So, can you kind of give a pitch for working at MDOT? Working for the State?

(Lee) Absolutely. So, um, I had the opportunity as I came out of college, go to work for a consulting, get, get that level of experience and knowledge. Then, you have the recession of ‘08 hit, and, um, you know, everybody's going through um, tightening the belt, so to speak. So, I was one of the ones who got laid off. Well, I was fortunate enough to land with MDOT. Um, er, I had that opportunity. Took it. Ran with it. Was fortunate enough to be in Holly Springs, up in the project office and, um, you know, just couldn't have asked for a better situation to fall into.

Everybody up there, and still to this day, are just truly some of my dearest friends, and they're really awesome. But, um, just through, uh, you know, several different opportunities that they came available to, to me and my, my wife, um, she had the opportunity to move down south and, um, and we took a position here in Jackson. I got to come to the Construction division and open up a whole another area of, of experience.

Um, that being said, working in different areas of the state, working both private and, and, uh, in public, there is nothing like work-life balance working for MDOT. MDOT is a family, and you hear, you know, everybody up, upstairs - Brad says it. I've heard Brian say it repeatedly. Um, but it truly is a family. Everybody, you know, depends on one another, and it's, it's something that you can't pass up the camaraderie. It was something that was very evident in Holly Springs. I mean, we hunted together. We played golf together. It was just a, a team effort up there all the way around.

Same thing when we got down here to Construction Division. I mean, it was just like, uh, just like breathing. And it was that easy. Um, so, it, you know, moving to LPA Division, it was just taken up another notch. It's just we are a tight nip - tight knit, excuse me – um, division, because we were one of the smaller divisions. Since, since I came in in ’19, I think there was four, um, employees, and we've doubled in size, uh, within the division.

(Paul) That is awesome.

(Will) Yeah. And you guys are jamming up down, uh, jam up work down there. You know, love our LPGA folks for sure. Uh, as you mentioned, 2019 came on board, so, almost five years – four – just crossed over four, coming up on five. You got it all figured out?

(Lee) Absolutely not. Um, so, uh, Mack Dowell – the guy up in Programming – he and I joke all the time. We're always learning, learning from one another. And it's, it's the same with the, the, uh, work that we do within LPA division. Um, the process, federal aid process is the, you know, you've got to have certain items as you go through a project, but how you arrive at those, those milestones, is never the same. And that's one of the things that makes it so interesting.

(Will) Yeah, I, I was just gonna say I'm sure the regulations and rules and things like that continue to change. You guys got to be on top of that just as much as the actual LPA that's receiving the funding.

(Lee) Absolutely. So, between the, the rules, regulations and the personalities, that's what makes, makes life fun.

(Paul) A lot to learn. So, I mean, you went to school for engineering, right? So, and now you are an administrator or manager. So, uh, you know, what is it like - what kind of like, transition is that, going from, you know, being an engineer to kind of being like, you know, big picture kind of stuff?

(Lee) So, I, I joke all the time that I am a, um, you know, an introvert by education, but, you know, by profession I'm probably not. And I think that most folks would tell you that I could, I could talk to the wall. And I think that there's probably a lot of legitimate – legitimacy – to that. Um, so, that being said, it, it was a pretty, a pretty big transition initially, but after, you know, about six months or so, it was fairly easy.

(Will) Especially when you get all those good people down there –

(Lee) Absolutely.

(Will) – to lean on.

(Lee) That's true.

(Will) I would say that's my number one thing around here. Right? You got to have good folks, and thankfully they are abundant. Uh, no doubt about it. Well, talking about, uh, some of the projects. You mentioned some earlier. We’ve had some, uh, social media posts and whatnot talking about LPA division, partnerships you guys have with those. Um, any kind of favorite or memorable, memorable project?

(Lee) Oh, mercy. Um, there's a couple that, that stand out. Obviously, each one of them has their own, uh, you know, little place in your heart because you spend time with, with every one of the entities. Uh, you're out on the jobs. Um, you, you make friends along the way, whether it's, uh, you know, a mayor, a city engineer, a councilman. Uh, so, just - and I'm having to go way back a little bit - but from, can, uh, you know, from the project office, probably my favorite job, uh, to get to work on was, uh, the I-22 upgrades, uh, from Highway 78 to I-22.

Uh, growing up in northeast Mississippi, I mean, Highway 78 was our lifeblood. Um, it was one of the major corridors and thoroughfares that we used, you know, daily.

(Will) Yeah.

(Lee) Um, so, that was, that was kind of a big deal for me. Uh, then coming down here, transitioned to LPA division, uh, one of the bigger jobs that, that LPA division had, you know, some level of oversight on was the Lake Harbor extension where we bridged, uh, over I-55. There were, uh, you know, a lot of, um, lane closures, nighttime construction, things of that nature, and it was a really, really fun, cool project.

(Will) It's just so crazy, and to kind of reiterate the diversity, you know, you go from like, a horse trail you mentioned earlier to a bridge span of the interstate.

(Lee) Right.

(Will) You know, pretty, pretty opposite ends of the, the spectrum as far as a construction project goes. And touch a little bit of all. That's a, that's pretty cool as far as LPA goes. I like that aspect of it. Uh, one you mentioned – uh, what we were talking about before we got here – that personally, I love: the Hattiesburg roundabout that's just finished up recently. That thing is beautiful.

(Lee) So, Hattiesburg has had the opportunity for several of the safety improvements. Um, we've had several pedestrian facilities that have been installed down, uh, down in Hattiesburg, um, through our TA program. Um, and just, just a little plug about the TA program - I know that we may have a little bit of time for that at the end - but the TA program is actually open right now, and we are taking applications through, I think it’s October 2.

(Will) Okay.

(Lee) But the TA call is, uh, something that the transportation commissioners would have a, a say in and things of that nature. So, uh, there's an online application through our, uh, our, uh, website there at, uh, you know, MDOT.ms.gov - Business Center, LPA (Local Public Agency), and then, uh, you can find everything right there on the website.

(Will) That's awesome. I completely - I mean, let me recant that before I say it - we absolutely knew that the application cycle was open and planned this recording, uh, as a result.

(Paul) We've, we pull it up every single day for sure.

(Will) Yeah.

(Paul) But, uh, any other projects you want to kind of highlight that are kind of, uh, currently going on or upcoming?

(Lee) Absolutely. So, uh, you know, like Will mentioned a second ago, we're hopping right now as we're coming into the, the end of the federal fiscal year. Um, We, we run around like our hair's on fire, and I would if I had hair, but, uh, we have several big jobs that are coming up: uh, Reunion Phase Two here in Madison County and then, the sister project, Bozeman, uh, Widening.

In our own backyard right, right here in Jackson, we have the Medgar Evers Range Grant that we're working on that, that'll be coming up in a couple of years. Um, North Mississippi, you have the 182 Bill Grant in Starkville that’s, they're doing some retooling, and that one will be back out on the street advertising here pretty soon. And down on the coast, we're working with Gulfport on that, um, uh, Interconnecting Gulfport project that they have, which is a North-South corridor that's, uh, just west of Highway 49.

(Paul) Wow. Statewide.

(Will) It’s work everywhere. Yeah.

(Paul) As Will says, “wide open”.

(Will) Wide open. What is that - orange cones everywhere you look? I can’t remember what our little saying was we came up with at one point. Oh man, that's exciting. Uh, I'm excited to get back out there and see some more of these projects. Like I said, we, we do spend a good bit of time getting to run around. Uh, hopefully we, got to pay more attention to the actual work that's going on. So focused on not getting run over out there. Uh, shameless plug real quick before we get into the good questions: uh, Lee, how you feel about litter?

(Lee) I hate litter.

(Will) We do, too. And as a result, we got a new litter campaign out there. We're so proud of. Uh, Paul and Drew and all the folks done a lot of work on. So, uh, if you share those feelings about litter, please go check it out. Check out the new web page. All kind of new resources and info on there. Um, hopefully you’re seeing our ad that's out there talking about, uh, how much we spend and please, please, Mississippi, don't trash Mississippi. So, we love that. But nonetheless, let's talk about food. We like to eat.

(Lee) You are in, you know, this is kind of my bailiwick a little bit more, being a plus-size gentleman. Uh, so…

(Will) Well, you know, start us off here, uh, a near, nearby restaurant. Is there a, is there a hotspot you got to go by at least once a week, locally?

(Lee) Well, if I'm being honest –

(Will) Know you're a Mama Hamil’s guy.

(Lee) I, I am. I am. And you know, um, with that same, same type of mentality, Pig and Pint is one of my, my favorites. Uh, you can't really go wrong with the barbecue brisket nachos on skins. Uh, now, if you have a long, long, like a pretty big itinerary after lunch, probably not going to be your go-to, but it's, uh, it is a very, very, very good.

(Will) I got to keep it light. I'm gonna sneak in here with, fr - fr- is it Frisco's Deli? Is that -

(Lee) Frisco Deli.

(Will) Yeah.

(Lee) Absolutely.

(Will) So, uh, maybe not your absolute favorite, but a fantastic place for sure and the reason I’m gonna throw it out here is because I had never been there, mentioned it, and you took me over there. So, uh, you can advocate for the other places, but you also showed me a new one too. What about far away? If you're ever getting out of the Jackson metro, you got somewhere?

(Lee) If I'm out of Jackson… Oh, mercy. So, back then in Construction Division, we kept a running a list of all of our favorite places.

(Will and Paul) Oooh.

(Lee) And I’m trying to think. There's so many across the state, um, where I've had really good experiences, and I can't really think of a, you know, a bad experience.

(Will) What about back and like towards Holly Springs?

(Lee) So honestly, a lot of the places up that way - alright, Ajax. I love Ajax on the Square

(Will) That’s fair.

(Paul) Love it.

(Will) It's very fair. Great place. Paul loves all things Oxford.

(Paul) Definitely. Another place you don't want to, like, you know, have anything really important to do after –

(Lee) Right.

(Paul) – you eat there, because you're pretty much spent.

(Lee) Right. Right. So, um, I'm, by nature, a creature of habit whenever we go to certain locations. So, I know that there are, you know, several burger places that you would go to or, uh, maybe some - but I always make the folks that are with me, they don't really have a choice. I mean, we're probably going to go to Ajax. We're probably going to go, if we're in Tupelo, probably going to go to Harvey’s, uh, just because, um, I, you know, that was always the treat place growing up and, uh, uh, you know, I can't really…

(Will) Well, hey, if you find yourself, you know, in the passenger seat with Lee Frederick going toward lunch, let go. Let guide. He's going to take you somewhere good to eat. You can count on it.

(Paul) For sure. For sure. And if you find that list, you know, send it our way. We've got our own running list.

(Will) That’s right.

(Paul) So, listen, the, uh, the water cooler talk, like we just mentioned, is definitely food in Public Affairs. And the other part of that is music. We have people that love all kinds, music - jam bands, country, rock and roll. So, tell us, who’s your favorite, or favorite bands and musicians?

(Lee) See, that's, that’s really tough because, uh, Will and I have had this discussion many, many times. And, um, I, I, I have a proclivity for exactly, uh, for the majority of the time, country music. However, like on the way in this morning, um, I had I think it was George Strait, Merle Haggard, uh, maybe Alan Jackson, um, and then Howlin’ Wolf. So, it's just a little bit of everything all over the place. But you got to tie some Mississippi Blues in there with, with anything, especially on a, you know, any ride in. You've got to have that, that one caveat, you know, like where you have strong country. Mississippi blues.

(Will) With both of our recent guests - Malary, uh, White - keep wanting to still call her Malary Pulin – with MEMA. She was a, super diverse as far as her, you know, pod, the playlist for the ride in. She had all kind of stuff going on. Uh, sidebar. At what point does, you know, when does it become, country or classic country? Because lot of those, as you know, some of those 90s songs were like 30 years, you know, that's almost 30 years ago.

(Lee) So, Will, we're, we're not really going to get into that because, um, that, that’s, that gets into age, and you get to talking about numbers and things of that nature so it –

(Will) Very fair

(Lee) I’m gonna stay away from that.

(Will) What about a favorite concert that you've been to?

(Lee) Favorite concert… hands down. All time. Zac Brown Band.

(Will) Really?

(Paul) Nice.

(Lee) My wife surprised me with tickets. Uh, shoot, this been years ago, but I still remember, uh, whenever they came in, in, uh, the intro for free, the, uh –

(Will) Yeah.

(Lee) You know, the stage went dark. They had the American flag and they started with a fiddle off on the side spotlight. You get chills.

(Will) I kind of got chills right now.

(Lee) It was unbelievable.

(Will) You got me in the moment. I felt like I was at the Zac Brown concert right there.

(Lee) Yeah. Telling You -

(Will) Was that here?

(Lee) No, it was actually in Memphis, at the Forum.

(Will) Okay. Yeah.

(Paul) Oh, wow.

(Will) Fantastic venue.

(Paul) That's a good choice right there. Good. Very, very good choice. So, we, we love country music in Public Affairs. Even some of us you wouldn't think. We love it. So, anyway, we got one more softball for you, getting a little, you know, kind of get you out of here. A few more questions for you though. The Mississippi summer travel spot. You know, I'm sure you get out there on the road. Where do you like to travel to in the state of Mississippi?

(Lee) So, um, wow, like I told you before, everything about the division, those were all easy questions because, you know, we're talking about, uh, staff and talking about, you know, what we love to do. These are the tough questions with the food and the music and then, you know, the, the sunny spot that you like to go and relax at.

(Will) Gotta keep you on your toes.

(Lee) Um, gosh, I mean, honestly, Mississippi summer spots that I get to go to are ballfields all across the state.

(Will) It's fair.

(Lee) And coming, coming up pretty soon will be volleyball arenas, uh, around the state. Uh, little girl is going to start playing volleyball here pretty soon.

(Will) Okay.

(Lee) So, um, even in the heat, I'll be able to beat it with the indoor volleyball facility.

(Will) I got no hops. Not, volleyball was not in the cards for me. Never was.

(Lee) Now being, uh, being the, the size guy I was, um, that vertical was not very high.

(Will) You’re already up there over the net. Man, just reach up.

(Paul) There you go.

(Will) Uh, so, okay. Yeah. Plenty of ball fields. That's very fair. It seems like it's appropriate time too. I continue to see Facebook and Twitter, you know, everybody's at the ballfields right now.

(Lee) Oh yeah.

(Will) It’s just that time of year. Oh, a shameless plug here, Paul. If you want to throw the summer travel. Uh, check out the app, you know, anytime you're going to be, uh, making plans. See what projects are going on. You get on there and see about road closures and stuff coming up. Um, and then, on that similar note, uh, you know, it is summertime. We are traveling, but it is also the midst of hurricane season. So, just keep an eye on the weather out there, especially if you're going south.

I don't think there's a - you know, check the National Weather Service for the latest on the weather, not MDOT – but, uh, I don't think there's anything brewing in the Gulf right this moment, but certainly be aware of those. And for our coastal folks out there, check out the resources that we have on the website, um, as far as hurricane prep things - you know, that honestly, you know, it's part of our, our duty here. We talk about hurricane prep, and it seems like every year we get back around to this time of year, and there are things that I have not thought about in a while we need to check up on.

(Lee) I'm going to tell you before we ever, you know, as we said, as we set our itinerary up to go across and visit projects throughout the state, one of the first things that we always check, we have the app and we always check the, uh, the website just to make sure, you know, there are no traffic notifications before we hit the road.

(Will) I love it.

(Paul) No doubt. And people call us and ask about, you know, road condition stuff. And I always tell them, “Look, download the app in the Google Play or Apple Store or go to MDOTtraffic.com because this is the same information we're giving you is available to the public. So, get, go get that. And then, talking about hurricanes, the website there is GoMDOT.com/hurricanes.

So, please, if you're in south Mississippi, go ahead and check that out right now. Plan your evacuation route. But, anyway, Lee, um, thank you so much for coming on the show with us. Can you throw some contact information out there? Maybe shout out to your team?

(Lee) Absolutely. Absolutely. I want to thank them, first off, for everything that they do. I mean, it's, it’s really unbelievable that we are able to oversee, um, the, the number of projects and the, the various types of funds that we oversee without having a solid, solid, uh, team. And it's, it really is unbelievable. Um, so, downstairs to all of you: uh, Will, Mitchell -

(Will) Other Will, not me.

(Lee) Yeah, no. Will Andrews. Uh, Mitchell, Paula, Lindsey, Donna and Callie, thank you so much. Around the state: Brian, uh, Travis, Jeff, Lauren, Josh, uh, Chuck, Randy, and Ms. Nellie. Y'all are more awesome than I can express.

(Will) I give you a round of applause just for being able to remember all those names. Recite them. That's, that’s good stuff. The man likes y’all out there.

(Lee) Yes.

(Paul) Absolute rock stars. Well, Lee, again, love to have our MDOT folks on. Thank you so much for coming in and talking with us today.

(Lee) Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me.

(Paul) No doubt. For sure. So, we'll just wrap things up right there. Uh, our listeners, our watch, our people that watch the show can visit GoMDOT.com/theextramile to check out the episodes. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. @MississippiDOT is the handle. We’ll keep you up to date on all things MDOT. We always want to thank our, our editor Drew Hall. He does everything behind the scenes for us. Does a fantastic job. Without further ado, remember, drive smart out there on Mississippi highways. Please do.