Women in Construction Week 2025 Profile: Renee Callaway

Biking in Madison, Wis. is a big deal. The community of cyclists is big. The bike system to get around the City is big and connected. The excitement and appreciation is big. None of these facts are likely surprising to anyone who has spent time in the Madison area, especially Traffic Engineering Division Assistant Director Renee Callaway.  

“I love working with all the people across the city in this infrastructure realm,” Callaway said.  

At the City, Callaway is known for her work across city agencies and across the state, but also the impact of her work in the local biking realm, like on South Basset Street where the city has a first-of-its-kind of bike lane.   

“My role with this project was actually from concept to evaluation. So, I worked on project engagement, project design, taking it through our approval process with our boards, committees, commissions,” Callaway said. “I helped with detours, decided on marking and signing. I worked with people on signal timing, and then I worked on our protected bike lane, since Bassett has the first one in the city, presenting an evaluation to determine if we would move forward with the project.” 

While big projects like these will have lasting impacts on the biking community and City as a whole, her start began in the smallest municipality in Wisconsin where she grew up: Yuba, Wis. Population 74, according to the 2010 census, located about 17 miles north of Richland Center, northwest of Madison on the way to La Crosse.  

“Growing up, I didn’t even really know how to ride a bike,” Callaway said. “I can assure you I had no idea this [career] is what I would do.” 

But it didn’t take long for Callaway to appreciate biking and fall in love with its impact in the community. While really getting into biking in college, Callaway earned her associate's degree at the University of Wisconsin-Richland. She then earned a bachelor's degree in journalism and history along with a master's degree in Adult Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  

“Some people who take adult education might work in health care more traditionally, some may work in the recreation sphere, but I was taking classes related to transportation planning – but with an underpinning idea of education,” Callaway said.  

After college, her resume continued to build with her first job at UW as the bike pedestrian coordinator, and then she worked at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.  

“I worked on safe routes to school and helping communities around the state look at how they can better get kids walking and biking safety to school,” Callaway said.  

She also worked at the Metropolitan Planning Organization looking at regional transportation before becoming the Bike and Pedestrian Administrator at the City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division, all positions typically in a traditionally male-dominated field.  

“I’m very lucky to be at a time that there are a lot more women in construction,” Callaway said. “That doesn’t mean that there aren’t challenges. I find myself in meetings looking around and I’m the only woman in this sphere right now.” 

Currently, her sphere includes being the conduit between so many people involved in projects as an Assistant Director.  

“The difference now is that I get involved with a lot of different things. I work so much more with our field operations. Like on this project [Bassett Street], we have some plastic delineators, and working on what might be the best product, since we’re still learning about that here...how can we maintain our markings, and I really just try to bring the information from our staff who work in the field every day and bring that back to the office environment and see how we can learn from that.” 

Learning from staff and experiences seems like a small part of her job, but it’s a big deal when it comes to impact and overall better experience for anyone traveling in the City of Madison.  

“You’re all playing a role in our city’s infrastructure—and we’re trying to build and maintain it at a high standard,” Callaway said.  

High standards...now THAT’S a big deal when it comes to building anything in the City of Madison—maybe even a bigger deal than … biking ... or making your lasting mark on the industry as a leading woman in construction.