Michelle Mecca has been a civil engineer with Kimley-Horn for 12 years.
She worked with the company in Raleigh, N.C., for six years and, when Kimley-Horn expanded its Jacksonville engineering operations to include traffic, Mecca moved to Jacksonville to work in that division.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
Transportation planning and traffic operations. “I market a developer for work, win the work, write a proposal, have a team of people to help do the work, send out the bills and make the phone calls to collect the bills. I do it all. I am held accountable for all my business and I have goals for all of them. It’s very rewarding when you win a new project.”
WHAT IS TRANSPORTATION PLANNING?
“Planning is before a project happens. A developer will come in and say he wants to do a commercial development and he needs to work out his access to roads, permits, concurrency, rezoning and all the different elements that go into developing a project. I do a traffic study to help support where his driveways are. Access into and out of his site could break or make his deal. We help negotiate between the developer and the Department of Transportation. We also help with concurrency which every project in Florida has to apply for and prove that they have. They have to prove that their traffic is not going to impact any of the roadways negatively. If it is, what do they need to do to mitigate for it? You have to prove that there is water and sewer availability.”
WHAT ARE ‘TRAFFIC OPERATIONS?’
“Traffic signals. I design traffic signals. They are all different for each type of intersection. Right now you are seeing a lot of the signals that have a steel pole with an arm. There are still a lot of intersections that still have a concrete pole and span wire. Jacksonville does not build any more span wire signals. They are trying to upgrade all the intersections because they are safer during hurricanes. Each signal is site-specific. The height on where that pole is mounted in the grass or sidewalk varies on every intersection. Also, the arm length varies on every intersection. I also work signal timing so that ideally you should progress from one to the next instead of hitting red light after red light. Ideally, signal lights should be timed so that once you stop at one, as long as you drive the speed limit and there is no congestion you should be able to make it through the whole corridor with green lights on the main road.”
CIVIL ENGINEERING?
Mecca said civil engineering includes land development, roadway design, traffic and waste water and sewage design. “Developers will come to us prior to even buying the land during the due diligence phase. A developer may look at a piece of property and we put together a due diligence report for him and they may decide the deal just doesn’t work. Or we get involved and help them figure out how they can solve some of their problems. If they decide to move forward we get a survey and lay out what the developer wants. Then we start the permitting process and having meetings with the DOT or the city. We try to come up with a plan that will satisfy everyone.”
CLIENTS?
A few of Kimley-Horn’s customers include Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Florida Rock, Rinker, Toll Brothers and KB Homes.
HOW DOES YOUR JOB RELATE TO BUILDERS?
“I am on the front end when they are putting a project together. I get involved when it is still raw land and help them work out all the site development elements of their site.”
FUTURE OF DEVELOPMENT IN JACKSONVILLE?
“Jacksonville still has so much big raw land available that the developments are able to build the infrastructure that they need to get into them. Part of what is happening is that roads are being built to get to new developments like the St. Johns Town Center. At the same time, J., Turner Butler Boulevard is being widened and there will be access to the 9A and I-295 intersection right there. There are other things going on in addition to what the developers are building.”
HOW DID SHE GET STARTED IN CIVIL ENGINEERING?
When she was in school, she really liked math and science classes. When she talked to people about possible careers, she thought engineering sounded interesting.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT YOUR JOB?
“My projects are quick and you see the results. It’s nice to drive by a project, like the Target in St. Augustine, and say ‘I worked on that’ or drive by and say ‘I designed that traffic signal.’ It is nice to see the final result.”
COLLEGE?
She has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Florida. She started for Kimley-Horn right out of college.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS?
Commercial Real Estate Women of Jacksonville, Institute of Transportation Engineers.
PET PEEVES?
“Being late.”
HOMETOWN?
Panama City, Fla.
PERSONAL SIDE?
She has been married to Joe, a civil engineer, for one year. They have a golden retriever named Chewy and live off Hodges Boulevard. When she is not working, she enjoys reading, shopping and mountain biking. A movie she saw recently and would recommend is “Something’s Gotta Give.” When relaxing at home, she enjoys tuning into “House.” When traveling she enjoys the North Carolina mountains and when dining out, she likes Barbara Jean’s.
-by Michele Newbern Gillis