Gina Balsamo, one of our Traffic Leads in our Columbus, Ohio office, is celebrating her 10th year with Carpenter Marty Transportation (CM)!

Early Inspiration

Gina has been familiar with the AEC industry since childhood. Her dad was an architect for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and her mom worked as an administrator for a structural engineering firm. While she once considered following in her father’s footsteps, Gina discovered she had a stronger passion for math and science than the arts. That interest led her to the University of Dayton, where she pursued civil engineering.

During the summer after her freshman year, Gina interned at LJB Engineering and quickly gravitated toward their traffic department. She continued interning with them throughout college, gaining hands-on experience that solidified her path in traffic engineering. After graduation, Gina eventually moved to Columbus and joined CM, where she has built an impressive career.

Career Highlights

When asked what she is most proud of so far, Gina pointed to CM’s selection for the LOR-Race Road Project through the May programmatic. She played a key role in the pursuit, attending the meet and greet, and collaborating with her teammates on the Letter of Interest (LOI). “Being able to put in the time and effort to craft the perfect LOI and presentation, and then seeing it pay off, is a very good feeling,” she shared.

Of the many projects she’s worked on, Gina’s favorite has been the ERI-4-(10.59-11.75) safety study. She was involved in the study from kickoff to completion, including assisting the city in pursuing funding and conducting a walk-through with Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and stakeholders to help scope the design project. CM also won the design portion of the project, where her coworkers from other departments were also able to work on this project alongside her. A few years later, she was able to drive by and see the finished improvements in action, a rewarding full-circle moment.

Another unique aspect of Gina’s work is her experience collaborating with lawyers. She has been hired to produce traffic studies to support or rebut arguments in legal cases involving site development and roadway improvements. In fact, she has even testified in court to present her findings.

Life Outside of Work

When she’s not managing traffic studies, Gina enjoys spending time outdoors with her two rescue dogs, Lucy and Tuxedo. They love hiking together, and thanks to a special bike trailer, the pups even get to join her on bike rides!

Travel is another one of Gina’s passions. With a sister living in the Netherlands, she takes every opportunity to explore Europe, always with an engineer’s eye. “Whenever I travel, I find myself looking at infrastructure, taking pictures, and seeing how other parts of the world are innovating,” she says.

Advice for Future Engineers

For students or young professionals interested in traffic engineering, Gina offers this advice: “Make sure you get an internship or co-op while in college to confirm this is the right path for you. Take transportation planning classes and attend a public meeting for a project in your area to get a taste of what the field is like in practice.”