Transportation Infrastructure Group Head Returns to Park

Tom Wintch Makes a New Home Among Roads, Infrastructure He Helped Design

Thirty years ago, Tom Wintch was the talented young engineer responsible for the design of the internal roadways and local and regional transportation improvements associated with the development of Hacienda. In large measure, he is the person park occupants have to thank for the efficient and attractive network of boulevards and avenues that helped turn 876 acres into a world-class mixed-use development that today includes office buildings, retail and commercial space, and residential clusters.

In the intervening years Wintch has applied his professional skills to an extensive list of high-profile projects in a portfolio that includes work for the Oakland and San Francisco airports, San Jose light rail, and the I-580 HOV lanes. His transportation expertise can be seen on local roads, highways, and interchange improvement projects in a host of northern California cities.

Now Wintch has returned to the park, leading the newly formed Transportation Infrastructure Group (TiG), which provides civil engineering services, including planning, design and surveying, to public works agencies throughout the state. Along with its in-depth engineering knowledge and experience, TiG offers special expertise in getting agency approvals, specifically from the State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) for public agency and private sector clients.

"Our name is new, but the people of Transportation Infrastructure Group bring decades of public works experience to every project," Wintch notes. Collaborating together for more than 25 years, he and key team members Larry Taylor, Jim Pun, Mark Wood, and Odeon Li, all P.E.s, have delivered transportation projects totaling over $3 billion in construction value. The nine person firm is co-located with Ruggeri-Jensen-Azar at 4690 Chabot Drive.

Wintch himself spent the past seven years with a large international engineering firm, overseeing three Bay Area offices and fulfilling numerous corporate office responsibilities. These duties took significant time away from what he had come to enjoy most in his career: "working closely, in partnership, with clients tackling challenges and solving transportation infrastructure needs."

Last summer he decided it was time for a change. He hung up his corporate hat, trading it for the opportunity to get closer to the ground, returning to a more client- and project-focused role. "My position at TiG, as well as the support from TiG's founding partners, provides me with an environment and 'in-place' management support that allows my focus to be directed exclusively back to servicing clients and ensuring the technical quality of our work," he relates.

With complicated projects taking more than 10 years from start to finish, Wintch observes that establishing good working relationships can mean the difference between projects that run smoothly and those that run into trouble. Acting as trusted advisors, the TiG team is committed to "providing project management expertise, on-the-ground oversight, and a roster of services designed to add value at every stage of implementation," he points out.

Recent projects include design of two bridges crossing the Arroyo Mocho Creek for the Staples Ranch project recently annexed to the City of Pleasanton, design of the Fallon Road/I-580 Interchange, and planning studies and design of the East-West Connector project, which will provide an improved link between I-880 and Mission Boulevard in the cities of Fremont and Union City.

For more information, visit www.tig-eng.com.

Photo: In a return to Hacienda, Tom Wintch now heads up the Transportation Infrastructure Group.

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