Traffic Payout

From guest blogger Jeff Adamson

Kris Sandgren and the bike he plans to ride across the country

You’re getting this update because I’m shamelessly taking advantage of a Missouri DOT bicyclist’s twisted idea of a 3-week vacation – Riding from Anacortes to Jefferson City, Missouri  (via SR 20) – to raise money for a Work zone Safety Memorial in his state.  Kris Sandgren expects to cover about 100 miles a day as he works his way across the state and then on into Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Missouri.  (If you see him – wave, honk, give him a thumbs-up or buy him a cinnamon roll!)

Work Zone Safety week in Washington was back on April 19- 23.  Kris’s ride provides a perfect opportunity to raise the awareness of work zone safety here, in the middle of the construction season when our contractors employees and our WSDOT inspectors are most at risk.  You may recall that this year, the method we (and the rest of the country) chose to support the men and women who work just feet from “live” traffic to improve our highways was by Going Orange.

Kris got to Anacortes Sunday and heads 2,500 miles to the east Tuesday morning.  His motivation is understandable – He knew some of the Missouri work zone victims, personally.
Work zone safety is something we take seriously, too. Since 1950, 57 Washington State Department of Transportation employees have lost their lives in work zone-related activities.

This isn’t the first time Kris has done this ride. Last time it was for himself. This time it’s for his friends and coworkers who’ve died in roadside work zones. He’s riding to raise some of the $94,000 needed for Missouri’s first Fallen Worker’s Memorial.  Missouri has lost 128 employees in work zones.

He got a little publicity before he left Missouri – here’s the story: www.kspr.com/news/local/94810014.html