The road to success for MacPherson is simple – keep Anoka County roads in the best shape possible. “All county roads are overseen by the county highway department,” MacPherson said.
MacPherson and his team of 125 employees are in charge of the county’s 1700 lane miles, which includes some major roads in the North Metro area.
“That’s like Bunker Lake Boulevard, Hanson (Boulevard),” MacPherson said. “You’ve got Armstrong Boulevard out in Ramsay all the way to Lake Drive in Lino Lakes and Columbus.”
MacPherson has accomplished plenty so far in his stint with the county. He has tried to create job camaraderie.
“The number one thing I’m proud of is the team we have here in the transportation division,” MacPherson said. “We have stellar leaders here. Excellent employees. That’s the thing I see every day.”
Safety a priority
Keeping county thoroughfares functional and free flowing is paramount for MacPherson. There is plenty for him and his crew to focus on such as construction projects and general upkeep.
Said MacPherson: “We maintain our own signal systems and signs.”
One of MacPherson’s priorities is safety.
“One thing we experienced during COVID, was driver behaviors and driver habits significantly changed,” MacPherson said. “Speeds have gone up. Our team is taking a look at different ways that we can design our roadways to slow people back down and insure that all modes of transportation are safe to use.”
Dealing with growth
Another focus for MacPherson is being able to handle Anoka County’s explosive growth.
“We have some corridors here on the county system such as Lexington over in the city of Blaine and Ham Lake, that they’re servicing developing areas and they’re still two-lane roadways,” MacPherson said. “We’re looking at those types of areas to expand them and build them appropriately…One of the big differences and unique aspects of Anoka County is we have both developing communities and we have communities that are already fully developed and they are actually in the redevelopment stage. It’s exciting to work on those style projects.”
The departments within the Anoka County transportation division are – engineering, fleet services, GIS, maintenance, surveyor, transit, signals and signs.
