Northbound News, April 2023.

Maryland State Highway Administration sent this bulletin at 04/04/2023 12:30 PM EDT

                                                                          April 2023
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Making work zones safer to protect highway workers

Work Zone Awareness Week

April 17 – 21 is National Work Zone Awareness Week and the tragic death of six workers at the 
I-695 TSMO site in Baltimore County on March 22 underscores the need for stronger measures to protect highway workers from harm. 

At last year’s Work Zone Safety Summit, 75 representatives of state agencies, industry and law enforcement came together to examine efforts to safeguard workers and drivers within work zones.  

Conference presenters approached safety from four perspectives and developed the following recommendations: 

  • Improving operations, engineering and planning. 
  • Increasing public awareness with better education. 
  • Empowering law enforcement. 
  • Using new technologies. 

SHA is working with our partners on implementing the recommendations with new measures to prevent future tragedies. These include adopting the California DOT’s successful use of temporary rumble strips near work zones; using automated flagger machines, to reduce human exposure to injury; making increased use of speed feedback signs; and increasing police presence and ticketing. Making better use of current apps – like Waze warning motorists as they approach a work zone – is being tested. 

Last year the state legislature passed two laws to improve safety – an expanded version of the Move Over Law, which obligates motorists to slow down or move over when approaching ANY stopped, standing or parked vehicle displaying warning signals, and the Green Light Law, which makes emergency vehicles easier for approaching drivers to see. The Office of Maintenance (OOM) has begun installing green lights on our dump trucks with installation expected to be complete by summer 2024. 

The most important aspect to improve safety for workers and drivers alike is to have positive changes in driver behavior. High speeds, distractions and failing to move over are all too common occurrences in our work zones. Public outreach and education campaigns are being coordinated with the Maryland Highway Safety Office and other groups. We have also reached an agreement with Maryland State Police to have more enforcement in our work zones.

speed feedback sign

Go Orange with us in support of work zone safety!

We are taught at an early age that red means stop, green means go, and yellow means caution. One color that most of us likely weren’t taught about in school is orange and what it symbolizes—unless your teacher was an Orioles fan.

In the construction and transportation industries, we know the color orange is used to alert motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians that they are approaching a work zone. It also represents the need for motorists to slow down and for all who approach a work zone to stay focused and put down their distractions.

To encourage all roadway users to think orange for work zones and to travel through them safely, SHA is participating in National Go Orange Day on April 19.

We ask you, your co-workers, family members and friends to join our efforts. Here’s how:

  • Wear orange in support of work zone safety and snap some photos.
  • On April 19, post your photos on your social media pages with the message “I/we wear orange in support of work zone safety. #GoOrangeMD.”
  • Tag SHA’s social media pages @MDSHA (Twitter), @MDOTSHA (Facebook) and @MarylandStateHighwayAdmin (Instagram). Office of Communications will retweet/repost your social media posts.

If you don’t use social media, email your photo to kmiller12@mdot.maryland in Office of Communications by April 12, and Kristen will share your photo on SHA’s social media pages.

Help SHA raise awareness about this serious topic.

From the years 2017-2021 (2022 data continues to be compiled), there have been 7,521 work zone related crashes in Maryland, resulting in 3,059 injuries and claiming 46 lives, including drivers, passengers, and highway workers. One crash, one injury and one life lost is one too many. Go Orange with us!

Saluting those who take the tough calls

Chrissy Coburn at SOC

Morning Shift Supervisor Christina Coburn takes a customer call while monitoring traffic information at the Statewide Operations Center.

If your car has stalled in the middle of the highway, it’s good to have a calm voice on the other end of the line. SHA’s Traffic Management Center (TMC) Operators are there to answer the call from one of SHA’s four TMCs, either the Statewide Operations Center (SOC) or one of three regional Traffic Operations Centers. The SOC also serves as SHA’s 24/7/365 emergency answering point, receiving requests for response from first responder partners, as well as the public for reports and complaints of issues along Maryland roadways.  

During National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, April 9-15, we salute these dedicated SHA workers – along with 911, police, and fire dispatchers – who answer calls for help when drivers stall, break down, crash and face great danger. These SHA workers dispatch Emergency Response Technicians from SHA’s Coordinated Highways Action Response Team (CHART) to rescue the stranded and the imperiled, often saving lives. In 2022, SHA’s TMC’s logged over 102,000 roadway events including more than 28,000 lane-blocking incidents and over 28,000 disabled motorist responses. The Statewide Operations Center (SOC) alone received over 112,000 phone calls that same year.  

For all that you do: Thanks for your service! 
NWZAW Go Slow sign orange cones street scene

A flagger protects workers and motorists along a work zone

PICTURE OF THE MONTH:

NATIONAL WORK ZONE AWARENESS WEEK

Departments of Transportation across the country will commemorate the week of April 17-21 with a different event every day: Work Zone Training Day (Monday), a national kickoff event on the Mississippi River (Tuesday), Go Orange Day (Wednesday), a social media storm (Thursday) and a moment of silence to remember those who lost their lives in work zones (Friday).