ADOT displaying safety messages this week for work zone awareness

PHOENIX — A number of Arizona Department of Transportation freeway message boards this week will display messages urging drivers to be alert and slow down in work zones.

The warnings are part of National Work Zone Awareness Week (April 26-30), an annual campaign that encourages safe driving and extra caution through construction areas.

NATIONAL WORK ZONE AWARENESS WEEK

ADOT urges motorists to slow down in work zones and use best highway safety practices. Otherwise, you put yourselves and highway workers at great risk. https://t.co/3WxmUNAucm#phxtraffic #aztraffic pic.twitter.com/uPczrB8nz6

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) April 26, 2021

Some of the safety messages to be displayed include “Safe Drivers, Safe Workers, Safe Work Zones” and “Give ‘Em A Brake, Stay Alert in Work Zones.”

“We partner with our contractors to deploy safe work zone measures within our projects. That includes temporary concrete barrier walls to protect construction crews,” ADOT Central District Administrator Randy Everett said in a press release.

“However, you can’t prevent all exposures to traffic, especially when short-term maintenance work such as pavement repair is happening. We need drivers to stay alert for workers and equipment. We want everyone to arrive safely home.”

More than 60 people have died in work zone-related crashes along roads in Arizona since 2016, including local streets and state highways, according to ADOT.

Nine fatalities were recorded in 2020, including ADOT employee Frank Dorizio, who was struck and killed by a vehicle while setting up a sign alerting drivers of pavement repairs along Interstate 10 near Casa Grande.