Top Kansas transportation official is stepping down Dec. 23

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The top transportation official in Kansas is stepping down just before Christmas. Gov. Laura Kelly’s office announced Tuesday that Transportation Secretary Julie Lorenz plans to return to private business and that her last day leading the state Department of Transportation is Dec. 23.  It’s the first major change at a state agency since the Democratic governor narrowly won reelection earlier this month. Lorenz spearheaded Kelly’s successful push in 2020 for a new, 10-year program of highway and bridge projects. Before Lorenz became the state’s transportation chief in 2019, she was an executive at the Kansas City engineering and architectural firm Burns & McDonnell.