Gary Durst, Maintenance Supervisor for the Incident Response Team (IRT), enjoys all of the challenges and rewards that his job offers. He supervises the region’s IRT drivers, helping to keep drivers on the move. His staff is specially trained to respond to blocking incidents on our highways and work to clear the roads. They work with the State Patrol to assist with traffic control and help drivers with flat tires or empty gas tanks. Their efforts help keep traffic moving smoothly on our freeways.
Helping people is Gary’s favorite part of his job. “It is very satisfying helping people who are stranded on the side of the road,” he says.
He remembers it being harder to get a job with WSDOT when he was hired on as a Maintenance Tech 1 in 1986 at the Kent maintenance yard. Back then, there were not as many openings as there are now, but Gary has seen a lot of change in his 20 years. He also reflects that they are much busier than they used to be. And with the weather that we’ve had lately, he says there is no shortfall of problems this winter.
“I think we have the most enjoyable and challenging job there is,” says Gary. Now that he is not out on the road as much, he enjoys being able to accomplish the tasks put in from of him, no matter what they are. He states that the wide variety of tasks that he gets to perform keep him from doing the same thing every day. And Gary’s co-workers agree that he is a hard worker who doesn’t always want the credit for a job well done.
Gary has seen countless interesting incidents, but the most memorable is the tar spill that shut down northbound I-5 through downtown Seattle in April 2005. He and his crew had the tough job of getting the thousands of people stuck on I-5 around the scene. Using a Sounder bus as a barrier, they turned drivers around and took them backwards on northbound I-5 to the Mercer off-ramp. They worked with the city of Seattle to give drivers a place to turn around. Meanwhile, maintenance crews scraped the tar off of the road. Gary says it was a tremendous team effort to get the road reopened in time for the evening commute.
When Gary is not keeping drivers moving through the Puget Sound, he enjoys spending time outdoors. Born and raised in the Seattle area, he is happiest when he is outside doing yard work, woodwork, or on the water in his boat. He also enjoys spending time with his two daughters.
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