National Work Zone Awareness Week is April 17 to 21, 2023.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) encourages motorists to “Work with Us,” this year’s theme. The week honors employees and contractors who risk their lives to keep Virginia moving every day.
The dangers of highway work zones claimed 22 lives in the Commonwealth in 2022. In the United States, more than 80 percent of casualties in work zones are motorists or passengers.
This year’s theme is a reminder that highway workers and motorists play a key role in work zone safety.
“The men and women working on our roadways have the same goal as drivers – to get home safely at the end of the day. That requires a partnership,” Virginia Secretary of Transportation Shep Miller said. “VDOT strives to clearly mark its work zones and make sure motorists can navigate them safely. Drivers have a responsibility to slow down and completely focus on the roadway.”
VDOT employees and contractors are committed every week to work zone safety. Virginia has led the way to raise awareness of challenges that workers and drivers face in work zones. VDOT works with other state transportation departments, federal government agencies, national road safety organizations, private companies and industry leaders to educate motorists on work zone safety.
A group of VDOT employees in Virginia’s Bristol District wanted to dedicate a week to raise awareness about work zone safety among district employees before road work increased in the spring of 1997. Successful promotion of the first event encouraged VDOT to share the idea with other departments of transportation and promote a uniform set of safety tips. National Work Zone Awareness Week has been observed across the United States since 2000.
VDOT provided the following tips for safely navigating work zones:
- Stay alert.
- Slow down.
- Use caution.
- Follow the signs. Signs and flaggers will direct you through work zones. Expect changes in traffic patterns as a project progresses.
- Watch out for workers and slow-moving equipment.
- Allow extra space between your vehicle and the one in front of you.
- Expect speed limits to vary in work zones. Enhanced fines of up to $500 may be levied for speeding in a work zone.
- Be patient. Crews are working to improve the safety and comfort of your travels.
- Never change lanes in a work zone.
- Know before you go. Before starting a trip, visit online for real-time information on traffic, lane closures, work zones and incidents. Download the free mobile 511Virginia app, or call 511 from any phone in Virginia.
“Every spring, drivers see more construction and maintenance on Virginia’s roads and bridges,” VDOT Commissioner Stephen Brich said. “Work zones can have changing traffic patterns, slow-moving heavy equipment and visual distractions. We ask the traveling public to work with us for their own safety and ours.”
The community is invited to celebrate with VDOT in the following ways:
- Monday, April 17: NWZAW Kick-off day. Start a conversation about safety.
- Wednesday, April 19: Go Orange Day and statewide NWZAW observance. Wear orange and share your support of work zone safety by posting pictures on your social media accounts with #GoOrangeDayVA. Wednesday evening, VDOT and its partners will gather at the VDOT Workers’ Memorial on Afton Mountain to honor those who lost their lives in work zone incidents.
- Friday, April 21: A statewide moment of silence at 10 a.m. to remember workers killed in service to the Commonwealth.
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Rebecca Barnabi
