By Rylie Friesen–
Thirty-eight-year-old city engineer Leslie Blomquist has been recognized with an award by a regional business journal for her work with the City of Citrus Heights.
Blomquist has been with the city for five years, currently serving as city engineer. In her position, she oversees road resurfacing projects, maintains traffic signals and street lights, addresses neighborhood traffic safety concerns, and inspects development projects.
“I feel very humbled and very appreciative, especially knowing that the nomination comes from my co-workers,” said Blomquist in an interview with the Sentinel. “It’s really nice to be recognized for my work here in Citrus Heights, but also part of the award is your work outside of the office, which I love as a female engineer.”
Blomquist was featured in this year’s “40 under 40” list, published by The Sacramento Business Journal.
Prior to her promotion to city engineer earlier this year, Blomquist served as senior civil engineer and traffic operations supervisor for the city. As a traffic operations supervisor she designed, constructed, and operated traffic signals. She previously was in charge of coordinating traffic lights, as well as maintenance, upgrading when necessary.
“I would do the timing on how long it was green, yellow, or red, how do they coordinate on a street, how many times do you stop,” she said.
An article in the Business Journal says over her career Blomquist has helped the city acquire almost $10 million in grants for multi-modal projects. One of the larger projects she’s currently working on is the Arcade-Cripple Creek Trail, previously known as the Electric Greenway Trail.
Citrus Heights council selects name for future 2.9-mile trail
Growing up, Blomquist loved math and science, and knew she wanted to work with them from an early age. Her grandfather was a civil engineer, which got her interested in engineering.
“I thought it was so cool hearing the stories of him and the projects he worked on,” Blomquist said. “When I went to college, I started taking those classes.”
She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, majoring in civil engineering. She’s also a Girl Scout troop leader, making sure her troop often does engineering-related activities for badges. Blomquist says she’s thankful as a female engineer that she’s had the opportunity to introduce engineering to young girls.
Citrus Heights City Manager Chris Boyd told The Sentinel Blomquist has “brought fresh, innovative, successful ideas to our community,” including securing project grants and leading community developments.
“Leslie’s recognition solidifies the fact that she is one of the most respected professionals and up and coming leaders in the Sacramento Region, and we are honored to have her on the city’s team,” said Boyd.
Blomquist says her job comes with “a lot of work,” but describes it as work she enjoys.
“I love the Citrus Heights community — it’s an amazing community with great people and amenities,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to continue my role here and helping to make it even better.”
