Stay alert and slow down during Work Zone Awareness Week

It’s Work Zone Awareness Week, and we’re taking the opportunity to raise awareness about the things we all can do to keep each other safe in work zones.

ADOT crews work all hours of the day to build and maintain Arizona’s highways. I’m grateful for their incredible work in helping to make our commutes safer, our highways last longer and connecting Arizonans across the state. 

We take safety seriously and work zones are designed for your safety while crews work to improve the road. Please pay attention to those bright orange traffic control devices because working near traffic puts our workers’ lives at risk.

The sundial at Sunset Point Rest Area on Interstate 17 is a monument to ADOT employees who died while serving the state of Arizona. On the gnomon (the blade that stands vertically to create the shadow) is an inscription that reads: “As the sun sets over our fallen companions, may they always be remembered.”

Lives are on the line when the people who build and maintain Arizona’s highways work near oncoming traffic rushing by. 

And it’s not just the workers’ lives at risk. According to the Federal Highway Administration, about 80% of work zone fatalities nationwide were drivers and their passengers.

Work Zone Awareness Week is a time for us to not only raise awareness, but for everyone to take responsibility for the decisions we make behind the wheel. 

We need everyone’s help to make work zones safer: slow down, stay alert and watch for people working on or near the road so we can all get home safely.