March 4, 2020 remains a dark day at the Arizona Department of Transportation. Frank Dorizio, a member of ADOT’s Incident Response Unit sponsored by State Farm, was killed while on duty, setting up a sign alerting drivers to pavement repairs along Interstate 10 south of the Phoenix area. He was the first ADOT worker since 1998 to be struck and killed while working along a highway. We honor our ADOT employees who have been killed in the line of duty with a special memorial at the Sunset Point Rest Area on Interstate 17. 

Safely Home is our True North at ADOT. It’s what guides us in the decisions we make in constructing and maintaining the state transportation system. We want to ensure that you and your loved ones, as well as our construction crews and employees, get safely home each and every day. Besides our crews, law enforcement officers are often on-duty in a construction zone.

National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 11-15, is the time to remind everyone of the importance of being a responsible driver in work zones. Sadly, national data shows motorists are the ones killed most frequently in work zones because of speed and not paying attention.

At ADOT, we put safety first when establishing work zones. We designate work zones with signage, barricades, cones and orange or yellow vests. We want to ensure workers and drivers have enough space to safely navigate through a work zone. We need drivers to do their part and slow down when driving through work zones.

Besides our transportation crews, we have first responders like law enforcement, firefighters and tow truck operators who also need a safe area to work. When you see these individuals in a work zone, you should slow down for them, too.

Our I-10 Broadway Curve project team created a public service announcement, reminding drivers to pay attention, slow down when driving through the project area. I encourage you to watch the video and share it with others. It’s a simple reminder that work zone safety is everyone’s responsibility.

When you take the wheel in your hands, you have a responsibility to drive safely so all our loved ones come home.

As transportation departments and other safety organizations across the country wrap up this year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW), we truly hope that the emphasis on this life-and-death issue stays with you at all times when you’re behind the wheel.

The national event, held April 26-30, provided ADOT with an opportunity to place a spotlight on dangers associated with traffic traveling through work zones – not just on our state highways but also local streets in communities across Arizona.

We want to thank media outlets who provided coverage of NWZAW, including live reports from an I-17 work zone where the freeway bridge over Central Avenue in Phoenix is being reconstructed. It was great to see TV traffic reporters here in the Valley taking part in “Wear Orange Day” on Wednesday as part of the week’s events.

Nearly a thousand fatalities occurred in 2019 in work zone-related crashes across the U.S., according to statistics provided by the Federal Highway Administration. The majority of those deaths involved drivers or passengers in vehicles.

Here in Arizona, law enforcement crash reports showed there were 15 work zone-related fatalities across the state in 2019. That number was 17 deaths in 2018. Last year ADOT lost one of its own, Frank Dorizio, who was struck and killed by a vehicle while he was setting up a sign along Interstate 10 in the Casa Grande area. 

These are the top reasons we ask you to take this issue to heart. You indeed could be a life saver by slowing down and staying alert when approaching any work zone.

If you were out on one of our Arizona freeways or highways during National Work Zone Awareness Week, you may have seen one of our safety messages, including “Give ‘Em A Brake, Stay Alert in Work Zones.” 

We’re looking out for the men and women who work dangerous jobs in order to make things better as we move about the Grand Canyon State. But we’re also looking out for you, and any passengers traveling with you. In turn, we depend on you to remember the importance of being careful well beyond this one week. 

It’s got to be one of the worst phone calls to receive as a state department of transportation director. To find out you have an injured employee or, even worse, a fatality in a work zone – something that is totally preventable if people are driving safely through a work zone.

It’s a call I did receive on March 4, 2020. Frank Dorizio, a member of the Arizona Department of Transportation’s Incident Response Unit, was killed while on duty, setting up a sign alerting drivers to pavement repairs along Interstate 10 south of the Phoenix area. He was the first ADOT worker since 1998 to be struck and killed while working along a highway.

Two contractor employees have been injured this year – one a fatality. The fatality occurred on State Route 347 near the city of Maricopa, while the injured construction worker was part of a paving project on Interstate 10 near Benson this past week.

With April 26-30 designated as “Work Zone Awareness Week,” it’s important to remind everyone of the need for work zone safety.

At ADOT, we put safety first when establishing work zones. We designate work zones with signage, barricades, cones and orange or yellow vests. We want to ensure workers and drivers have enough space to safely navigate through a work zone. 

Besides our transportation crews, we have first responders like law enforcement, firefighters and tow truck operators who also need a safe area to work.

We just need drivers to pay attention when entering work zones. National data shows motorists are the ones killed most frequently in work zones because of speed and not paying attention.

If you would like to learn more about National Work Zone Awareness Week, you can watch the YouTube video and visit this website.

Our True North, Safely Home, means we want you and your loved ones to arrive home safely. 

This holds true for our ADOT employees who deserve to get Safely Home, every day.

Being in a work zone is a risk our construction and maintenance crews take on each and every day. Please pay attention while driving through work zones!

The important ongoing project to reconstruct the Interstate 17 bridge over Central Avenue south of downtown Phoenix remains in an early stage. But before the work got started, our staff at ADOT knew the bridge work zone would present challenges for drivers who use the stretch of I-17 between the I-10 “Stack” and “Split” interchanges.

A decision was made to incorporate a “Smart Work Zone” safety innovation into the I-17 project at Central Avenue. As you can see in this ADOT video, the project team has followed through with the placement of portable message signs on trailers at nearby freeway locations to provide drivers with travel times for both I-10 and I-17 in the downtown area.

For example, one of our message signs along westbound I-10 near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport provides both I-10 and I-17 travel times. That allows drivers to compare the estimated travel time for using northbound I-17, which includes the work zone, or what to expect by staying on I-10 in the downtown area.

On average, the optional I-10 route that includes traveling through the Deck Park Tunnel is saving drivers five or more minutes of commute time, not to mention avoiding the frustration associated with slow moving traffic in a work zone. Even with lighter traffic conditions on freeways during the current health situation, there are times when slow downs and backups occur on I-17 in the area approaching the bridge work at Central Avenue.

The portable sign system uses traffic data to calculate the estimated travel times to predetermined destinations. This system is much like the one used to provide drivers with valuable travel times on ADOT’s permanent electronic message boards along Valley freeways.

As part of this pilot project, portable message boards also have been placed in areas along I-10 approaching interchanges connecting to the new Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. Those signs also provide drivers with estimated travel times for using either Loop 202 or I-10 through the downtown Phoenix region.

ADOT has recently established several Smart Work Zone initiatives to help offset challenges associated with keeping traffic moving while construction is taking place. Those innovations include an I-15 queue warning system in the Virgin River Gorge, providing drivers with information to prepare for stop-and-go conditions ahead. Another example is the I-40 dynamic merge system east of Flagstaff that adjusts methods for merging depending on conditions near a bridge project at Meteor Crater.

Everyone can use a reminder about what they can do to make highway work zones safer. Even with lighter traffic volume these days, there’s no such thing as a completely safe work zone. It only takes one inattentive driver to cause a life-changing crash.

While we’re happy to point you toward a list of tips and best practices for navigating work zones, sometimes the message resonates deeper when it comes from the people who are affected most.

In this case, it’s the men and women who build and maintain Arizona’s highways. Throughout National Work Zone Awareness Week, we’re letting them tell their stories about work zones through a series of short videos that we’re posting on social media. 

Here’s a sampling of those videos, with each one playing after the last:

We all know the feeling. You’re out on the open road, a long stretch of freeway with little traffic, and your foot wants to push down on the gas pedal. In your mind you’re zooming down the highway just like in the movies. Fast if not furious.

In places like Tucson and Phoenix, where drivers are used to heavy traffic, there are fewer vehicles on the road because of the current public health situation. Driving a little faster may seem tempting.

You’re not alone. According to the national Governors Highway Safety Association, drivers are speeding with alarming frequency nationwide.

ADOT has seen it in our work zones, so much so that last week we urged drivers to slow down for the safety of road workers and themselves. With traffic lighter these days, we've expanded work hours for freeway construction and maintenance crews. Crews are starting earlier or working on weekdays instead of just weekends to complete their work more safely and efficiently. Drivers can come across work crews when and where they don’t expect it. The video at right shows just some of the work happening right now on Valley freeways.

Excessive speed plus work zone restrictions is a scary proposition. Workers stand just a few feet from travel lanes. Drivers make lane changes at the last moment because they were expecting clear lanes instead of construction barricades. It’s dangerous for everyone.

If safety concerns aren’t enough, Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers have a no-tolerance policy for speeding in a work zone.

With Work Zone Awareness Week at hand, following these safety tips from azdot.gov/WorkZone may save your life and the lives of road workers and others:

• Pay attention: Observe and obey posted warning signs, as well as flaggers. You can be cited for disobeying a flagger’s directions.
• Expect the unexpected: Speed limits might be lowered, travel lanes could be narrowed or eliminated and people may be working near your travel lane.
• Slow down: Speeding is one of the leading causes of work zone crashes.
• Merge safely: Do it early and carefully or as directed by signage instead of barging into a line of vehicles at the last moment.
• Don’t tailgate: The most common crash in a work zone is the rear-end collision. Don’t follow too closely and, again, slow down.

Work Zone Awareness Week 2020 is April 20-24, and I don’t know about you, but this year I think it holds even more meaning for us as an agency.

Don’t get me wrong – with more than 1,000 employees who work in maintenance and construction projects on highways throughout the state, work-zone safety is ALWAYS one of the most important issues we deal with at ADOT. However, the recent tragic loss of our ADOT colleague, Frank Dorizio, underscores for all of us just how crucial it is for drivers to be aware in the work zone.

We want everyone to get home safely at the end of the work day. Sadly, that doesn’t always happen.

With that in mind, I encourage you to talk with your family and friends about work zone safety. Explain to them that there’s just no excuse for driving recklessly.

While you’re at it, take time to examine your own driving behaviors and make the commitment to staying safe in the work zone – slow down, always obey signs and flaggers, and prepare for lane restrictions.

For more information, please check out the work zone safety section on our ADOT website and remember these tips when driving in work zones:

• Expect the unexpected. Normal speed limits may be reduced, traffic lanes may be restricted and people may be working on or near the road.
• Slow down! Speeding is one of the major causes of work zone crashes.
• Keep a safe distance. The most common type of accident in a work zone is a rear-end collision. Maintain two car lengths between you and the car in front of you as well as road crews and their equipment.
• Pay attention. The warning signs are there to help you move safely through the work zone. Observe the posted signs.
• Obey road crew flaggers. The flagger knows what is best for moving traffic safely in the work zone. A flagger has the same authority as a regulatory sign. You can be cited for disobeying a flagger's directions.
• Stay alert and minimize distractions. Dedicate your full attention to the roadway and avoid changing radio stations or using cellphones while driving in a work zone.
• Keep up with traffic flow. Motorists can help maintain traffic flow and posted speeds by merging as directed by signage.
• Be patient and stay calm. Remember, crews are working to improve the road and your commute.