Photo by Crystal Reed
Mike McDaniel (center) receives a certificate from Chris Smith, Operations Engineer Region 4-District 7 (left) and Doug Rudolphi, Maintenance Field Engineer (right). The certificate recognized McDaniel for 34 years of service with the Illinois Department of Transportation as a highway maintainer.

•July 14, 2021•
On Wednesday, June 30, Mike McDaniel, who worked in highway maintenance for the Illinois Department of Transportation in District 7, retired. He spent 34 years with the department. At the time he retired McDaniel was the longest highway maintainer in District 7 which is made up of 16 counties. He will be missed by his bosses for his experience in knowing the county and during his time there he was only on two snow routes. McDaniel said that he will miss plowing snow and that it didn’t bother him when he was assigned to do so. His least favorite part of the job was washing the truck in a wash bay without enough ventilation and too much pressure on the wand in extremely cold weather. During retirement he plans to continue looking after his 89-year-old mother, mow yards and deer hunt.