Ed Cole is Chief of Environment and Planning. He is responsible for the activities of the Divisions of Transportation Planning, Environment, and Public Transportation, Waterways and Rail.

Transportation planning initiatives include Tennessee’s first statewide long range multi-modal transportation program. With leadership provided by the Transportation Planning staff, this process will incorporate all transportation modes and phases of project development and implementation. The process has included extensive interaction with citizens, local government officials and the Metropolitan Planning Organizations in the urban areas of the state.

Initiatives also include incorporation of environmental and cultural considerations early in the transportation project planning process and a major revamping of the management of the environmental permitting process. Quality assurance teams are being created to monitor environmental performance of major construction projects, as well as ongoing maintenance operations. Of particular concern are erosion and sediment controls during the construction of highways and structures.

Ed Cole has a long background in public service. He has served in environmental, planning and management roles with local government. He has over 17 years of service with the State of Tennessee, most in management at the Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Most recently, he served as Executive Director of Cumberland Region Tomorrow, a regional planning organization covering the 10 counties of Middle Tennessee.