During his tenure, Cogliano advanced a number of the Romney Administration's key initiatives, such as implementing the Fix it First and Communities First policies, streamlining operations and reducing bureaucratic inefficiencies and Red Tape at the Highway Department, implementing the use of GPS technology to bring accountability to MassHighway's snow and ice operations, accelerating spending on road and bridge projects to a minimum of $450 million a year, and breaking ground on the project to eliminate the Sagamore Rotary.
[4] Cogliano was Transportation Secretary on July 10, 2006, when a concrete ceiling panel weighing 3 tons (2722 kg) and measuring 20 by 40 ft (6.1 by 12.2 m) fell in on a car traveling Boston's Fort Point Channel Tunnel, killing a passenger and injuring the driver.
After the collapse, Cogliano chose to hire Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the company that was responsible for overseeing the original construction of the tunnel, to inspect the repairs.
Cogliano admitted that he regretted reusing the firm and the state promised not to hire any Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff employees to work on repairs in the I-90 tunnel.
[6] As a result of the collapse, Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew J. Amorello was forced to resign and Cogliano succeeded him while retaining his job as Transportation Secretary.