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Nancy Wood
Some of Nancy Moreland Wood’s best memories are about those good snows that allowed sledding on the streets of Falmouth. “Someone would bring an old tire and we would make a bonfire. Then we would be out sledding all day. ALL day.”
Ironically, the one who looked forward to seeing those snows that would close down the streets of Falmouth is now the Public Information Officer of District 6 of the Kentucky Department of Transportation. Her job is to work with media to discuss road conditions, whether that means discussing snow removal plans after major snows as we just experienced or roadway concerns causing closures and detours throughout the year.
Wood graduated from Pendleton County High School in 1982. She was well known for her sports skills. (“They only had basketball and softball then. If they had had other sports when I was in school, I would have been part of those, too,” she says.) From PCHS, she went on to Georgetown College where she played basketball and softball and majored in Recreation Administration.
She is now on the Hall of Fame committee for Georgetown. “But I’m not IN the Hall of Fame,” she chuckles.
The degree she earned at Georgetown “kept” for a good while, but around 2002, she applied for the communications job in District 6, and she found the place where she belongs.
At first, her communications were more of a weekly nature. With the advent of social media and the increase of email as a primary mode of communication, among other developments, Wood found contentment. “I am responsible for working with the press, keeping up the website, posting on social media, helping with public meetings, writing a newsletter, and being available for comments to news stations and others. I enjoy it. It’s unique, and it fits my personality well. I love coming to work.”
The job, she conceded, also grew some challenges that have made her set boundaries through the years. “I am the only one in the position. I get calls from 4 a.m. till midnight. I try to be accessible but can’t always be available. I do my best to accommodate.”
Her most challenging role so far in her tenure has been—no surprise—the Brent Spence Bridge fire that shut that much-traveled span down for weeks as repairs took place. “[The fire resulted in] a communication crisis,” Wood stated. The span carries 160,000 cars per day, and a detour plan had to be developed and communicated within a matter of hours on November 11, 2020. The explosion happened at about 2:45 a.m. Rush hour starts around 6 a.m.
“[Communications] started with a social media post that the bridge was closed due to a truck fire. Then the Director of the Office of Public Affairs took the lead and I was part of the team. I helped with much of the networking and local logistics from that point, on.”
KDOT and others still had a lot of work to do after the initial crisis was answered. “We had to set up detours and consider traffic control that would work while the repairs were happening. I ended up being a small part of a huge team that got all of the work done. It was unique and rewarding. We had lots of long hours and team meetings through the weeks that made things happen.” But her heart is also a mom’s heart. When you ask her what she wants to talk about, she immediately turns the subject to her kids Brianna and Trey and to her baby grand-nephew Weslee. “Both (of her children) are NKU grads, and they are making their way in the world,” she shared.
Wood was especially touched when a daycare worker asked if her class could make cards for the crews that were working on the bridge repairs. She knows first-hand how valuable that feedback is. Brianna was involved in an accident several years ago that put her in the hospital and in rehab for months. After she was recovered, Wood took her daughter back to the floor and to the team that had worked to save her life and get her back out into the world. She saw the emotion in the nurses’ faces as she escorted her daughter around to see them again. They saw their work had been successful and appreciated. That, Wood said, is something that many workers do not often get to see--healthcare or road crews. Knowing how important that feedback is, she helped that daycare teacher make the thank-yous happen.
Retirement is not much on her mind at this point, but when it happens, she knows what she enjoys—the outdoors, traveling, hiking, friends, and, not surprisingly, some hobbies with transportation connections, including anything regarding the Roebling Bridge (her favorite). She has also collected 1964 license plates from all 50 states, commemorating the year she was born.
As much as she loves her job, she is also a realist. She knows she and her department are criticized more often than not regarding the inconveniences that closures and detours cause, but grace leads her to understand the other side.
“We don’t know what challenges people face,” she says.
After all, Wood had a time when she thought ice and snow were fun. Now, she sees another side of that, and she takes joy in doing her part to help commuters get through those challenges and many others.