Montana Awards and Recognition

Congratulations to MT ITE's 2025 award winners - Shae Talley & DOWL!

Shae Talley is the 2025 Young Professional Award winner! The Young Professional Award is open to individuals who are 35 years old or younger. This award is designed to recognize young professionals who have already made an impact on the profession, have demonstrated an ability to lead the next generation, and have implemented innovative techniques to solve transportation problems. Shae is a senior transportation engineer and project manager in DOWL’s Helena office with 13 years of progressive experience and responsibilities on projects throughout Montana and the Pacific Northwest. Shae has served on the Montana ITE Board since 2022, and she was an instrumental part of the Local Arrangements Committee (LAC) team that made the 2024 Mountain District Annual Meeting in Big Sky a success, serving as the Co-Chair of the LAC and Chair of the Socials and Events Sub-Committee. Shae is admired by her co-workers and colleagues as a leader and exemplifies the mission of Montana ITE, and we have no doubt that she will continue to better the transportation industry in her future successes!

DOWL is the 2025 Transportation Achievement Award winner! The Transportation Achievement Award is for demonstrated excellence in the advancement of transportation to meet human needs in one or more of the following five categories: Complete Streets, Transportation Systems Management and Operations (TSMO), Safety, Planning, and Traffic Engineering. DOWL is this year’s Transportation Achievement Award winner for their integral work in the 10th Avenue South Signal Timing Project in Great Falls! The 10th Avenue South corridor serves some of the highest traffic volumes in Montana, with segments seeing over 37,000 vehicles per day in 2023. With an outdated, circa 2008 timing plan in place, DOWL went to work with MDT and the City of Great Falls to re-time 19 signals within the corridor and coordinate all 17 signals between 2nd Street and 49th Street. The project reduced network delay and found ways to improve pedestrian safety and delay by eliminating nighttime flashing operations and reducing signal cycle lengths, showcasing how relatively inexpensive signal timing updates, with the right team involved, can provide outsized benefits to traffic operations and safety! Two key project personnel who are Montana ITE members: Sarah Patterson as Project Manager/Senior Traffic Engineer and Cody Salo as Senior Reviewer.