This week is “Work Zone Awareness Week” in New York State.
Governor Kathy Hochul said the state is recognizing April 15 to 19 with the national theme of “Work Zones are temporary. Actions behind the wheel can last forever.”
State landmarks will be lit in orange on Wednesday, April 17 in honor of highway workers across New York State.
Hochul said, “New Yorkers owe our highway workers a debt of gratitude for the work that they do to keep our roadways functional and safe. The easiest way we can thank them is by driving safely through work zones and giving them plenty of space, making sure that they get home to their families everyday. I call on all New Yorkers to recognize the importance of highway workers as we commemorate National Work Zone Awareness Week.”
In 2023, the State Department of Transportation experienced 214 work zone traffic intrusions while constructing capital projects or performing highway maintenance activities. Additionally, there were nearly 200 crashes in Thruway work zones, leading to 37 injuries. The majority of crashes were caused by either distracted driving, following too closely, unsafe lane change or disregarding traffic warning signs.
“Operation Hardhat” will take place this month in an effort to enforce vehicle and traffic laws in highway work zones. Under “Operation Hardhat”, State Troopers or local police officers are dressed as highway maintenance workers in active NYSDOT or Thruway work zones across New York, identifying and citing motorists for a number of violations, including disobeying flagging personnel, speeding through work zones, cell phone and seatbelt use, and/or violations of the State’s Move Over law.
In 2023, 2,919 tickets were issued by State Police and participating law enforcement agencies during 84 deployments across the state for speeding, cell phone usage, seat belts, failure to move over or obey traffic control devices, among other infractions.
The Automated Work Zone Speed Monitoring pilot program also will be in effect. Under the program, all vehicles detected violating the posted speed limit within a work zone by over an established threshold are fined.
Since the program was launched in the spring of 2023, there have been more than 2,760 deployments in work zones along the Thruway and roadways controlled by NYSDOT, resulting in more than 167,340 notices of liability being issued to registered vehicle owners.
Leave a Reply