Highway engineer for Cook and Lake counties resigns

The only county highway engineer serving the North Shore has resigned from her posts, leaving Lake and Cook counties searching for a new leader of the critical county agencies amid the ongoing concerns of the coronavirus.

Cook County Highway Engineer Krysten Foster, who is also the highway engineer for Lake County, submitted her letter of resignation to both counties Thursday, April 16.

She is pursuing other career opportunities with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Foster spoke with WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs about her resignation from the local highway departments.

Recognized for her often dry but timely sense of humor by the WTIP news staff, Foster, who was hired by Cook County in Feb. 2018, borrowed a classic line from the TV show Seinfeld when explaining her reasons for leaving the engineer lead role for both highway departments.

“It’s not you,” Foster said. “It’s me.