Nicole Jackson Contributes to Award-Winning ITE Traffic Engineering Initiative
FORTWORTH, TX—The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) has honored the Traffic Engineering Council (TENC) with the 2024 ITE Council Leadership Team Project Excellence Award for its role in developing and successfully implementing the ITE Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Action Plan. Nicole Jackson, PE, PTOE, a Railroad Group Manager at Benesch, was a key contributor to the effort.
The action plan, developed in March 2024 and implemented over the past year, was designed to support the transition to the 11th edition of the MUTCD. First published in 1935, the MUTCD establishes fundamental guidelines for the meaning, design, installation, operation, maintenance and removal of traffic control devices on publicly traveled roads. As the national standard, these guidelines play a critical role in ensuring uniformity and safety across transportation networks. The action plan provides a structured roadmap of resources to help ITE members adapt to the latest MUTCD standards.
Nicole played an instrumental role in the development of the action plan and was selected by ITE as a subject matter expert to serve as an instructor for the MUTCD in Action course, which was created as part of the initiative.
Nicole joined Benesch in 2020 as a Senior Project Manager and has more than 24 years of experience in rail grade crossing engineering. She specializes in railroad preemption operation and design and has developed solutions for some of the most complex grade crossings in the country. She currently serves as Secretary of Railroad and Light Rail Grade Crossings Technical Committee for the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
Nicole has been actively involved with ITE since 2008. In 2019, she joined the Rail Grade Crossing Committee, where members share information about best practices in grade crossing safety and operations. She served as the committee’s Webinar Coordinator for several years before being named Vice Chair in 2022. Nicole is also an ITE Fellow.
The 2024 ITE Council Leadership Team Project Excellence Award was presented to Nicole and her team members at the ITE Spring Technical Conference on March 25.
