Gov. JB Pritzker on Tuesday announced that he has appointed former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s transportation chief as the state’s secretary of transportation.
Pending approval from the state Senate, Gia Biagi will replace Omer Osman, who is retiring after holding the top post at the Illinois Department of Transportation since 2019, the year Pritzker became governor.
“Her expansive portfolio and unique leadership experience will undoubtedly propel IDOT’s mission forward and strengthen Illinois’ infrastructure efforts,” Pritzker said of Biagi in a statement.
Biagi took over as head of the Chicago Department of Transportation in December 2019, about seven months into Lightfoot’s single term in office. In that job, she oversaw more than 4,000 miles of streets; more than 400 miles of bike lanes and trails; the city’s streetlights, bridges and intersections; and the partnerships that operate the Divvy bike-share system and city’s e-scooters.
Biagi led the agency as Lightfoot pushed for development and better walking and cycling conditions near mass transit, and made a controversial move to lower the minimum speeds that could lead to a ticket through the use of traffic cameras
Biagi and the city also faced criticism from advocates for not doing enough to protect and promote walking and cycling. But at the time it was announced she was leaving the job in summer 2023, shortly after Mayor Brandon Johnson took office, the agency said that 100 additional miles of bike lanes and trails had been added in the city under Biagi’s watch.
The City Council during her term also approved a pilot program that would use cameras to ticket vehicle owners who park in bike or bus lanes, crosswalks, bus stops and no-parking zones. In addition, the Divvy bike-share program was expanded to reach all city wards.
Biagi in 2022 announced a program to give away 5,000 bikes by 2026 that has been met with overwhelming demand.
Before becoming CDOT commissioner, Biagi worked on urban design, planning and strategy at architecture firm Studio Gang. She had also worked for the Chicago Park District.
Osman began his career at IDOT in 1989. He worked as a civil engineer before transitioning to leadership roles in the agency, overseeing projects such as the modernization of Interstate 80 south of Chicago, the Interstate-57/74 interchange reconstruction in the Champaign-Urbana area and capacity improvements to I-57 in southern Illinois.
He led IDOT through the state’s $45 billion Rebuild Illinois infrastructure bill, which has funded road construction and capital improvement projects all over the state. Pritzker’s office also credited Osman for championing diversity throughout the agency, and strongly advocating for minority- and women- owned businesses in partnership with IDOT.
The state’s Office of Executive Inspector General reported last year that Osman violated a long-standing policy by allowing high-ranking IDOT officials to delegate certain job duties so they would avoid triggering a revolving-door prohibition that could limit their job prospects once they left the agency.
The state’s revolving-door law prohibits certain employees from taking jobs with state vendors if they have “personally and substantially” played a role in awarding or administering a contract valued at $25,000 or more within the prior year, among other restrictions. IDOT policy says the agency will not grant “blanket recusals during an employee’s final year of department employment regarding all possible future employers for the purpose of avoiding all possible application of the revolving door ban.”
The inspector general’s office found that Osman personally approved these recusals for at least three employees who reported to him during his three-decade career at IDOT. In addition, the IG said he gave investigators conflicting information about his knowledge of the policy and the extent to which employees recused themselves from specific job duties.
Pritzker, who has praised Osman during public appearances on various Rebuild Illinois projects, did not take any disciplinary action against his transportation chief. The governor’s office said Osman worked “to ensure the agency revamped its processes and did everything we asked in an effort to change the very long-standing approach that he inherited.”
Osman’s state salary was about $220,000 a year. The governor’s office did not immediately respond to a question about Biagi’s pay. She will serve as acting secretary until the Senate takes action.
Tribune reporter Dan Petrella contributed to this story.
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