Austin District Engineer

Carlos Lopez, P.E., serves as district engineer for the Austin District of TxDOT. He was previously director of the Traffic Operations Division until moving to the Austin District July 1, 2009.

A 27-year TxDOT veteran, Carlos served as the Director of the Traffic Operations Division beginning in 1999. He joined the division in 1988 as a special projects engineer and managed statewide traffic light synchronization programs.

In 1993, he became the Traffic Engineering Section manager, where he worked with districts and provided statewide oversight of signing, signal, pavement marking and safety construction issues. He became division deputy director in 1996 and served as interim director prior to being named division director.

Carlos joined TxDOT's Pharr District as a summer employee in the Laredo Area Office while earning his bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. After earning his degree in 1982, he began full time as a field engineer in the Design Division and also spent a year of training in the Austin District. In 1988, Carlos transferred to the Maintenance and Operations Division's Traffic Engineering Section.

He received his license as a professional engineer in 1987. In 1989, he earned his master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He and his wife, Zulema, live in Austin and have two daughters and one grandson.