On this week’s Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, Jeff talks with:
- Ron Jackson, MDOT maintenance coordinator in the Taylor Transportation Service Center about what it’s like maintaining some of the state’s busiest freeways during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ron and Jeff also talk about how his workers stay safe.
- Also, this week is National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week. Courtney Bates, who coordinates safety messaging in the MDOT Office of Communications, talks about the challenges in this year’s campaign because of the pandemic and creative efforts to share the message.
First, Ron talks about the importance of maintenance work and his compelling video to launch MDOT’s new Selfies From the Field series, an occasional feature highlighting transportation workers who clear debris from roads, mitigate washouts from flooding, patch potholes, and inspect repairs during this time of crisis. They support thousands of healthcare workers traveling to their double shifts at hospitals, truck drivers who haul our bread, milk, meat, and vegetables to the grocery store, and the people who stock the shelves and those who ring us out. Transportation workers do their jobs so all the other essential workers are able to do theirs. #MDOTSelfiesFromTheField
Ron is also the MDOT’s Metro Region safety officer, and he talks about methods he employs to emphasize to maintenance crews the dangers inherent in working near traffic.
Staying safe in work zones takes on special significance this week with the annual national campaign to make drivers aware of the men and women working on the roads and bridges we rely on everyday.
Courtney talks about her work with MDOT’s work zone safety team to prepare to host this year’s national event, which was canceled because of COVID-19. The event had been planned for the American Center for Mobility, dovetailing this year’s “We Can Do It” theme with the center’s former life as the Willow Run assembly plant and “Arsenal of Democracy,” converted from auto manufacturing during World War II to famously crank out more than one B-24 bomber per hour. The folk hero Rosie the Riveter is also part of the plant’s lore. View more photos of the era in this Detroit News gallery.
Also discussed: creation of the poster that honors the men and women working on the roads in the spirit of Michigan’s labor legacy.
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