Accomplishments Report 2017

Accomplishments Report 2017 19 Work Zone Awareness National Work Zone Awareness Week unites industry professionals to promote roadway safety awareness In2017, NationalWork ZoneAwareness Week (NWZAW) was held April 3 to 7. The event is annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. The key message is for drivers to use extra caution in work zones. Last year, industry members across the nation united under the campaign’smessageof “Work Zone Safety is in Your Hands.” The opening ceremony April 4 in Silver Spring, Maryland. About 75 people attended the kick-off event, which was held at a live work zone site located at the Georgia Avenue/Randolph Road interchange and hosted by theMaryland Department of Transportation (MDOT). Event speakers addressed the crowd in front the National Work Zone Memorial, which was created in 2002 as part of “The National Work Zone Memorial - Respect and Remembrance: Reflections of Life on the Road” program. The Memorial is a travelling tribute to the lives lost in roadway work zones, making its way across the country, year-round. This year, 18 names were added to the Memorial, which were on display along with approximately 1,400 others. Among those names is RichardW. Moser, the late husband of victim advocate Laurie Moser, both of Middletown, Maryland. Richard Moser passed away in 2007. At the opening ceremony, Laurie Moser vocalized the importance of prac- ticing safe driving, reiterating the national campaign’s theme, “work zone safety is in your hands,” adding “your actions behind the wheel can prevent needless tragedy.” Moser later received a state proclamation declaring April 5 as Go Orange - Roadway Worker Appreciation Day in Maryland. Gregory Slater, MDOT administrator, acted as the master of ceremonies. Accompanying Slater from MDOT was the department’s secretary, Peter Rahn, who reminded the attending crowd of the 700 fatalities that occurred in work zones nationwide in 2015. Additionally, MDOT set up 130 traffic cones with black ribbons in front of the live work zone. The cones represented the number of worker deaths that were among the total for that same year. Martin Knopp, associate administrator of operations for the Federal Highway Administration said “safe highways depend on safe drivers,” during his remarks and Jack VanSteenburg, assistant administrator and chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, said “we do not want to see more names on that [Memorial].” Additional speakers included Elizabeth Baker, regional administrator for the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin- istration and RichardMendelson, regional administrator for theOccupational Safety and Health Administration. Gianna Urgo, public relations officer for the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) also accepted the NWZAW trophy on behalf of IDOT, which will host the ceremony in 2018.