AASHTO Journal, 27 March 2015
Agencies across the country observed National Work Zone Awareness Week, March 23-27, with press conferences, observances at monuments to state department of transportation workers killed on duty and with attention-getting efforts to prompt drivers to slow down and improve safety in those construction zones.
Under the theme of “Expect the Unexpected,” state DOTs and industry groups tried to amplify the message, telling the public to slow down and eliminate distractions as they drive through construction zones.
At least 18 state DOTs issued statewide press releases to announce the campaign, while many others posted messages on their websites and scheduled announcements or observances.
In Kansas and Iowa, for instance, officials turned orange lights onto bridges and other structures, to remind the public of the orange traffic barrels at work sites and the vests worn by work crews who often make highway repairs within feet or even inches of passing vehicles, as shown by this video from Transportation TV.
The timing of the safety emphasis was as significant as many of the events, since the week-long campaign came at the end of another harsh winter for much of the nation that left thousands of miles of roads needing sudden pothole patches or other surface repairs.
And March usually brings the start of the spring and summer highway project construction season, a time when orange cones and flag-waving workers suddenly appear in roadway lanes.
“As the temperatures climb, thousands of highway workers nationwide are heading back to work to improve America’s roads,” said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “To keep them safe, we owe them our full attention when driving through work zones, so please avoid distractions like cellphones and obey posted speed limits.”
Federal statistics show that in 2013 there were 579 fatalities in work zones, down from 617 fatalities in 2012, and that 105 of those killed in 2013 were roadway workers. There were also 28,630 work zone injuries.
Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau joined state and federal officials March 24 at a highway bridge crossing in Arlington, Va., just outside the nation’s capital, for the national kickoff event. During the ceremony, Nadeau paid tribute to the 132 Virginia Department of Transportation employees who died in highway work zones since 1928.
“When driving through work zones, be respectful of highway workers and their workplace by slowing down,” said Nadeau. “Following the rules of the roadway makes it easier to expect the unexpected.”
Among those attending were VDOT Commissioner Charles Kilpatrick and Lloyd Brown, communications director for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, plus state and local officials, VDOT crew members and families of those who have been affected by work zone crashes. TTV also covered that event.
Brown later told AASHTO Journal: “So many of us who have worked in a state DOT or with highway construction crews take this week to honor friends who have been injured or killed in those work zones, mostly from vehicle crashes.
“But we hope it will also make the general public pause and pay respects, because the hard truth is that the people who try to maintain our infrastructure also frequently put their lives on the line for the rest of us. And each year some of them do not come home from that job.”
The FHWA said work zone crashes usually occur when drivers fail to obey posted speed limits, fail to adapt to changing road conditions or use cellphones while driving. The National Transportation Safety Board scheduled a daylong multi-modal roundtable for March 31 at its headquarters to discuss the dangers of distractions in transportation. (See related story.)
Besides the work of state DOTs and industry groups to amplify the safety campaign, the FHWA since 2005 has awarded nearly $33 million in grants to promote work zone safety training and the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse.
There is some good news from the safety push. During the life of National Work Zone Awareness Week — which has its roots in a 1997 activity at a VDOT district office and is marking its 15th year as a national event — the long-term trend of work zone fatalities has declined. For instance, from 2002 to 2008 the number fell 39 percent from nearly 1,200 to 720.
But that progress has not remained steady. When U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the 2014 observance, he also reported that 2012 had seen an uptick, before the 2013 figures showed some improvement.
A coalition consisting of AASHTO, the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, American Road & Transportation Builders Association, Associated General Contractors, the American Traffic Safety Services Association and the Maryland, Virginia and District of Columbia departments of transportation are sponsors of the National Work Zone Awareness Week. They formally joined together in 1999 to make it an annual, nationwide safety campaign.