Crain & Associates staff are a group of highly skilled individuals, each with strengths in multiple facets of transportation planning and traffic engineering. We have transportation planning-focused engineers, CEQA specialists, engineering design experts, individuals skilled in site plan evaluation, modeling specialists, parking analysis experts and state-of-the-art graphics designers. We have numerous team members who are registered in the State of California as either a Traffic Engineer, Civil Engineer, or both. Our project managers are solution-oriented and dedicated to providing high-quality technical services. Our key employees include:

Diana Skidmore, Managing Director, has been with Crain & Associates for over 19 years and has been involved in all aspects of project development and every tier of the firm’s operations.  From the conceptual planning stage to the final construction stages of project development, her passion has always been to deliver the best and most creative engineering solutions to each project for optimal results.  Her unique blend of academic background, experience, management strengths, communication skills, as well as her dynamic personality, has been an integral and essential part of Crain & Associates.  Some of her particular expertise include project impact analyses, traffic and parking studies, site access and parking designs and reviews (including recommendations on loading docks, driveway configuration, vehicular queuing, and pedestrian access), master plan transportation designs, neighborhood traffic management program planning and design, project entitlement transportation presentations to communities, agencies, and development representatives, project traffic impact mitigation and improvements design, construction traffic control, and inter-jurisdictional permit reviews and approvals processing.  Some of her recent and current projects include the Santa Monica Place Mall redevelopment; the Veterans Affairs Mental Health and Community Living Center in Long Beach; Abraxis Bioscience facility in Culver City; the Beverly Connection in Los Angeles; Campbell Hall School in Studio City; Olive Avenue Streetscape Improvements in Burbank; Equinox Health Club Beverly Hills; and Santa Monica Farmers Market Event Traffic Control.

Roy Nakamura, Senior Transportation Engineer, has been involved in many aspects of traffic engineering and transportation planning for more than 30 years, with particular emphasis on land use traffic impact, site access/circulation, parking demand and mitigation analyses. Mr. Nakamura has prepared studies for large master plan projects throughout Los Angeles County that have included traditional as well as creative analyses of traffic impacts, project alternatives, construction traffic, and mitigation measures and phasing. Recent major projects include the Douglas Park Specific Plan for Boeing Realty in Long Beach; Amgen Specific Plan in Thousand Oaks; 2000 Avenue of the Stars office development in Century City; Fox Studios Master Plan; Howard Hughes Center Master Plan; and Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga Plaza Expansion. Mr. Nakamura has extensive experience in site plan evaluation regarding access, parking, circulation, queuing and delivery/service vehicle facilities. He is also adept at analyzing the implications of ordinances relative to traffic, parking, and street dedication and widening. Mr. Nakamura holds a Traffic Engineer registration in the State of California.

George Rhyner, Senior Transportation Engineer, is skilled in transportation engineering and analysis with more than 20 years of project experience with Crain & Associates. Mr. Rhyner focuses on the preparation of transportation studies, parking studies and trip generation analyses as well as development of traffic improvement construction plans. His knowledge of CEQA/NEPA requirements complements his preparation of numerous environmental traffic and parking analyses and documentation in conjunction with stand-alone traffic analyses. Due to his environmental processing knowledge, he has also performed peer review of environmental documents for a variety of projects. Mr. Rhyner has also been involved in the master planning processes for many Master Plans and Specific Plans throughout California, including the UCLA Long Range Development Plan; Oxnard Riverpark Specific Plan; Porter Ranch Specific Plan; El Dorado Specific Plan and the Sony Pictures Studios Comprehensive Plan. He has overseen the development of construction plans for the mitigation measures associated with each of these master plans. The improvement plans have been approved by both local jurisdictions and Caltrans. His vast traffic engineering and transportation planning experience includes presentations of reports and plans to clients, agencies, decision-makers and community members. Mr. Rhyner is both a registered Civil Engineer and Traffic Engineer in the State of California.

Bernie Brauner, Design Engineer, has 38 years of experience in the preparation of traffic engineering design plans including geometric striping and signing plans, and traffic signal and street lighting plans. He has worked effectively in coordinating design issues with multiple jurisdictions and agencies, including Caltrans. His coordination with Caltrans plan review has included the preparation of encroachment permits and plans, Project Engineering Evaluation Reports (PEERs) and Fact Sheets for design requirement exceptions. Mr. Brauner has also provided improvement cost estimating for a variety of mitigation requirements or roadway improvement projects. Much of his design efforts require his coordination with civil engineering plans or construction plans as well as landscape planning and ADA requirements. Most recently, Mr. Brauner has prepared B-Permit plans for Fox Studios, various Home Depot projects, several Wells Fargo projects, many private school expansion projects and over 30 plan sheets for Westfield Shoppingtown Topanga. He has also prepared design plans for jurisdictions such as the Cities of El Segundo, Burbank, Santa Monica and Los Angeles. He is a registered Civil Engineer and Traffic Engineer in the State of California.

Vlado Vlahovic, Design Engineer, has over 30 years of experience in the preparation of traffic signal, striping and street lighting off-site improvement plans. He has prepared portions of site plans, including loading facilities and parking layouts for major projects throughout the Southern California area. He is very familiar with the City of Los Angeles and other jurisdiction's requirements for site plan access and circulation such as vehicular slopes, minimum parking facility heights, driveway widths, drive aisle widths, necessary queue lengths, and vehicular turning maneuvers. He specializes in the preparation of traffic signal and street lighting design plans and has an in-depth knowledge of design and equipment requirements and types. He recently has been involved with developing improvement plans for projects such as: Harbor Gateway; West Bluffs; Childrens Hospital; and multiple UCLA developments. Mr. Vlahovic is a registered State of California Traffic Engineer.