What does it take to become the first woman ever to lead one of North America's most historic border crossings, and why would someone walk away from retirement to do it? On this episode of The BOBcast, host Bob Riney sits down with Regine Beauboeuf, CEO of American Roads and the first woman to run the 95-year-old Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, to trace her journey from a childhood in Haiti to the front lines of major infrastructure projects like the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Regine opens up about the mentors who shaped her: her father's discipline, her mother's compassion, and how a "creative laziness" in chemistry class nudged her toward a four-decade engineering career instead. She reflects candidly on what it means to be "the first," why she's determined to make sure she isn't the last, and how nearly 1,600 healthcare workers cross the tunnel daily, binding Detroit and Windsor into one true regional community. It's a conversation about borders, resilience, and the surprising ways infrastructure connects not just cities, but people's lives.
What does it take to become the first woman ever to lead one of North America's most historic border crossings, and why would someone walk away from retirement to do it? On this episode of The BOBcast, host Bob Riney sits down with Regine Beauboeuf, CEO of American Roads and the first woman to run the 95-year-old Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, to trace her journey from a childhood in Haiti to the front lines of major infrastructure projects like the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Regine opens up about the mentors who shaped her: her father's discipline, her mother's compassion, and how a "creative laziness" in chemistry class nudged her toward a four-decade engineering career instead. She reflects candidly on what it means to be "the first," why she's determined to make sure she isn't the last, and how nearly 1,600 healthcare workers cross the tunnel daily, binding Detroit and Windsor into one true regional community. It's a conversation about borders, resilience, and the surprising ways infrastructure connects not just cities, but people's lives.
Time Stamps
Career Path
2:06- Regine described growing up in Haiti, learning leadership from her father and compassion from her mother, and beginning engineering-related work as her father’s administrative assistant at age 10.
3:41- Her fluency in English, French, and Creole supported international work, including an expatriate assignment in Montreal on Quebec’s first public-private partnership project.
Regional Connections
4:47- The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel supports a shared regional community, with about 1,600 healthcare workers using it daily and an exchange of people, innovation, services, and skills.
6:15- Regine worked on the Gordie Howe International Bridge beginning in 2000, including feasibility studies and preliminary engineering. She later supported efforts related to financing and project delivery.
Tunnel Leadership
7:30- The Detroit-Windsor Tunnel opened in 1930 and marked its 95th anniversary. Regine emphasized its engineering significance, reliability, safety, maintenance, and preservation.
10:13- As the first woman CEO of American Roads, she is focused on modernizing the tunnel, improving technology use, and helping employees embrace a new vision.
Leadership Advice
11:00- Regine mentors others and wants to help create future second, third, fourth, and fifth women leaders in transportation.
11:36- Her advice to early-career professionals is to avoid competing with others, focus on personal growth, and aim to be better today than yesterday.
Personal Life
12:00- Regine enjoys travel, including visits to Bali, France, and Paris, and also makes scented candles when time permits.
Regine Beauboeuf 00:00
While there is an international border between Detroit and Windsor, there is really a sense of one regional community. We have about 1600 healthcare workers who use the tunnel every day, and so the flow of people, innovation, healthcare-it goes both ways.
Bob Riney 00:18
Welcome back to The BOBcast. I'm your host Bob Riney, President and CEO of Henry Ford Health, and today's guest is someone whose work has shaped the way people move through Michigan and across one of North America's most important international borders. is the CEO of American Roads, the company that operates the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. After an accomplished career spanning four decades in transportation engineering, Regine planned to retire in 2024. Instead, she accepted the opportunity to lead one of Detroit's most iconic cross-border connections, becoming the first woman to serve as CEO of American Roads. Before joining American Roads, Regine served as supervising engineer for the Project Development Section at the Michigan Department of Transportation. In that role, she oversaw the development and delivery of major transportation projects across Michigan. Her leadership has been instrumental in transformative initiatives, including the I-75 reconstruction in Oakland County, the I-375 Reconnecting Community Projects in Detroit, and the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which further strengthens the connection between Detroit and Windsor. Throughout her career, Regine has understood that transportation is about more than roads, bridges, and tunnels, it's about connecting people, connecting communities, and connecting opportunities. Her dedication to strengthening the relationship between Detroit and Canada has made a meaningful difference on both sides of the border. Regine, thank you for being on The BOBcast.
Regine Beauboeuf 01:52
Thank you for having me.
Bob Riney 02:03
Let's start off with your childhood in Haiti.
Regine Beauboeuf 02:06
You know, I was fortunate to have a happy childhood in Haiti. My parents came from very large families from the southern part of Haiti. So, among cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, there was no shortage of love, laughter, and epic moments. My mother and my father-they were very loving. My father, especially, was extremely strict. He taught me everything about being a leader and being a visionary. And my mother taught me about compassion. About leadership without compassion is really an exercise in stimulates you. You needed to bring that emotional intelligence to the table to work with people. I loved school when I was little. At about three years old, they outfitted me in a uniform and sent me to school with everyone because I I wanted to go to school. And I tried there over the years. I was good in math, physics, science, except for chemistry. I suffered from creative laziness, and so as a result of that, everybody kind of pushed me towards engineering. But I must say, my father was a civil engineer, and he had his own company, construction engineering company, and he had terrible handwriting. And so my mother was the only one who could understand his handwriting, and so she trained me very early on, to be able to read my dad. So, at 10 years old, they sent me to learn how to type, and I became his administrative assistant at 10. And so, I was typing all his reports, all his paywalls, and everything. And so, that's how also went on the in the field with him, and that's really how I gravitated towards engineering.
Bob Riney 03:41
Speaking of learning, you speak three languages fluently: English, French, and Creole. How has that versatility helped you in your career?
Regine Beauboeuf 03:52
When I was in high school, I had five years of Latin and Spanish. So early on, it taught me about a world that existed outside of the little island that I was from, that made me extremely curious to learn more about the cultures of those places where people spoke different languages. I ended up being an expat in Montreal, working on the very first private-public partnership project in the province of Quebec. So I was an expat. I was working for an engineering company, a global engineering company. I took a risk by going there, but let me tell you, it paid off. I think that was the most consequential decision in my professional life.
Bob Riney 04:32
Let's bring it closer to home. As you're aware, we have hundreds, actually 1000s, of team members at Henry Ford Health, who commute from Windsor and the surrounding communities to Detroit every day through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel.
News report 04:48
It's nearly 100 years old, the first and only underwater tunnel for vehicles connecting two countries. And perhaps few of us give it much thought after all.
Bob Riney 04:57
Tell us about the importance of connection when it comes to these two communities from your perspective.
Regine Beauboeuf 05:03
You know what's remarkable, while there is an international border between Detroit and Windsor, there is really a sense of one regional community. We have about 1600 healthcare workers who use the tunnel every day, and so the flow of people, innovation, healthcare-it goes both ways, and so we benefit from that exchange of ideas, of culture, of services, of skill sets. And I think this is why it is so important to have that connection, because it creates opportunities, fosters understanding among the two nations, among the cities. It also makes us stronger as a region, as opposed to if we were two distinct cities trying on each side to achieve, when we are together, we do achieve much more.
Bob Riney 05:48
We had another river ribbon cutting not too long ago. After a little bit of delay, the amazing looking Gordie Howe Bridge just recently opened.
News report 06:00
History eight years in the making. The Gordie Howe International Bridge, an engineering marvel, now open for business. The hockey legends family...
Bob Riney 06:10
Tell us about the work you did to help bring that project to fruition.
Regine Beauboeuf 06:15
I started working on Gordie Howe in 2000. At the time, we were doing a feasibility study between Canada and the U.S. so we were trying to identify what were the possibilities along the river from down river all the way to Belle Isle, and then in 2004 we moved into the preliminary engineering segment. So I was at the time the manager for the engineering program for the bridge. It was an amazing experience, but in 2008 I moved because my company had won this project in Quebec, Montreal. They were looking for French-speaking engineer with experience in complex project. The project was very similar to the Gordie Howe. It was a cable stay bridge, and it has two freeways. And I remember once we received the environmental clearance for the project, and the Snyder administration was looking at okay, how do we make this happen? And they were talking about the financing of it. So I flew back many times to speak to actually elected official and especially Lieutenant Governor Calley. I don't think Lieutenant Governor Calley gets enough credit for reading to 5000 pages of repeat contract and really working to get this done.
Bob Riney 07:24
How old is the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel? And tell us some things that viewers might not know about it.
Regine Beauboeuf 07:30
The tunnel was opened to traffic in 1930, so we just celebrated our 95th anniversary, and we're still kicking. So I just want you to know we're in great shape.
Bob Riney 07:40
Yeah, you're looking good.
Regine Beauboeuf 07:41
We're looking good.
News report 07:42
With an impressive 39-year career managing complex transportation infrastructure projects, Structural Engineer became the new CEO of American Roads, the company that owns and operates the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel just eight months ago. Her team of 50 work around the clock seven days a week to maintain it, and diligent attention is paid to safety, maintenance, and preservation.
Regine Beauboeuf 08:07
People don't think of it as a very interesting, sexy piece of transportation infrastructure like the Gordy Howe. But I will tell you, every time we host people to visit the tunnel, they spend a lot more time here than they ever expected to, because it is that fascinating. So one fact at the tunnel: the air quality in the tunnel is better than what you would find on Jefferson Street.
Bob Riney 08:30
I'm just fascinated by the fact that the tunnel was constructed in 1930, and I can't think of a time where it wasn't reliable and highly functional.
Regine Beauboeuf 08:42
It is an engineering marvel. People who came up with this design, the conception, and how they built it, frankly, there are not enough words to really think about that vision that they had and how they executed it. That so that we can still enjoy the tunnel and the work that is connected communities for almost a century here in Southeast Michigan.
Bob Riney 09:04
You sound like someone who has flunked retirement for the right reason. You're extremely passionate about what you do, and you're very energetic. What was it about this that made you say, "Yeah, there's another chapter to be written?"
Regine Beauboeuf 09:19
So I guess I love a challenge. The former CEO was retiring at the end of a long successful career, and that was after COVID. After we also had gone to a sale in Alabama because we also own assets in Alabama, and he retired because that took all of our energy and all of our time to manage the sale and also manage the pandemic. They were looking for someone to really come in and help us move, modernize the tunnel, improve technology use. And a woman I had worked with 20 years ago in Montreal gave them my name, and they asked me if I would join the tunnel. They told me the vision that they had. It wasn't just the technical part, but the idea of getting the current employees excited about changing course and then embracing a new vision. I just couldn't resist.
Bob Riney 10:13
One of the things I mentioned in the intro is that you were the first woman to serve as the CEO of American Roads. You're actually a female leader in a field that has historically been dominated by men. What does that mean to you, knowing that you're opening the door and allowing people to see possibilities in a field that they may not have traditionally looked at?
Regine Beauboeuf 10:41
First of all, being a first often comes with tremendous sacrifices, perseverance, and resilience. Sometimes I cringe a little bit when I hear the word first because it kind of tells me it's about time that representation becomes something that is more widely embraced. And inclusion, we see a lot more of that. I'm working very hard to make sure that they are the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, and I'm doing that through mentoring. No matter how busy I am, I will always find the time to mentor someone, and also to emphasize how emotional intelligence or leadership traits that should be required for both men and women,
Bob Riney 11:22
It's about the holistic package that really defines a leader. So, you're talking to a group of 20-somethings today about the beginning of their career journey. What's your advice?
Regine Beauboeuf 11:36
I'll tell them what my father told me: Don't try and compete with others. You are unique. Try to just be better today than you were yesterday. Focus on yourself, and the rest will come. I'm a living example of what it taught me.
Bob Riney 11:52
I'm sure you have some sense of balance in your life with all of your particular journeys. So, what do you do for fun?
Regine Beauboeuf 12:00
I travel. Traveling is number one for me. I love you know that curiosity for maybe learning all these different languages when I was younger has never ebbed away. And so traveling, going to places that are foreign, that are different to me, that's one of the greatest things that I can do. When I have time, I used to sew. And then I mentioned it earlier that I suffered from creative laziness, but I learned, you know, in my engineering career that if I wanted to be a good engineer, I also needed to let my creative side show too. And so that's what I had been doing. At one time, I had a blog. I had to close it because I was in this position, so that talk about my travel, my experiences, and now in my time, whenever I have something, I make scented candles. Nobody would think.
Bob Riney 12:45
How about that?
Regine Beauboeuf 12:46
How about that?
Bob Riney 12:47
Well, I think I need one (laughter). What's been the most impactful place you visited?
Regine Beauboeuf 12:55
Bali was amazing. I'm still waiting to go to Africa because I went back to work when I was I had planned my trip to Africa. I love going to France and Paris because there is history in every piece of mortar in Paris or France.
Bob Riney 13:13
It's been delightful to get to know you and to see what an incredible role that you play on this wonderful international border. Thank you for being on The BOBcast.
Regine Beauboeuf 13:23
Thank you so much, Bob. And I want to invite anybody who wants to visit the tunnel. We take visitors.
Bob Riney 13:28
And there may be a scented candle shop near the entrance. We don't know. All right. Thanks so much.
Regine Beauboeuf 13:33
Thank you. Thank you so much.