Is orange your color? This week, yes.

Many of us just can’t pull off orange. And that’s the point, really. Orange is something you notice – something that gets your attention. So it’s time again to get drivers attention.

This week is National Work Zone Awareness Week, the week where transportation and safety groups remind drivers why they should slow down and pay attention when driving through work zones. It’s the week to remind you that the men and women working out there on the roadway just want to go home at the end of their shift to family and friends.

Tragically, some don’t. WSDOT honors the memory of those lost, and looks toward a future when every employee makes it home safely each day.

See orange, pay attention. See orange, slow down.

If you don’t want to do it for the worker, do it for yourself and those you love.

Why? Four out of five victims in a work-zone crash are a motorist.

We would like to thank all those going orange for work zone safety. Many of our partner agencies helped spread the word this year.

And a special thanks to those whose orange attire may have required a step outside the comfort zone.

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

On Washington state and local roads from 2005-2009, 46 drivers, passengers and roadway workers were killed and close to 4,000 injured in work zones. And the majority of the time, it’s driver speed that causes those injuries, those deaths.

Just this week, someone drove a car into a construction zone and hit a parked WSDOT truck on southbound I-5 at the I-90 interchange. A worker in the truck received minor injuries, while the car’s passenger was killed. And in work zone collisions, 90 percent of the time, it’s the driver or passenger who suffers.

Ever try and convince someone their own behavior will get them killed? The term “blue in the face” comes to mind….

So we ask people to Give ‘em a Brake. Seen those signs? They ask drivers to slow down through work zones and don’t hit “them” working there. The Give ‘em a Brake efforts show success across the country.

Have you ever wondered who ‘em is? They are members of the community, and may be sitting or standing right next to you. At a recent Olympia-area youth baseball game, each field had at least one parent who is a transportation worker.

The person out there working in traffic could be someone you know. See how others are showing their support for “them” workers and see what you can do at the Go Orange for Work Zone Safety Web site www.wsdot.wa.gov/Safety/Brake.

Please, give them a brake and give yourself a brake too. Slow down in the work zone.

By guest blogger Meagan McFadden

It’s that time of year when the smell of corn dogs, elephant ears, and cotton candy fills the Yakima Valley. It must be time for the Central Washington State Fair. This year if you go to the fair in Yakima, which starts on Friday, (Sept. 25 through Oct. 4) you may be caught on candid camera because WSDOT in South Central Region (SCR) has a new addition to our outside fair booth – a Webcam!



This year we are featuring a portable Variable Message Sign with a Smart Zone Camera. The reason we are so excited about this is because it will not only be broadcast on our South Central Region Webpage, but the Central Washington State Fair’s home page as well. Fair-goers can check out the weather and see how big the crowd is before they make their way to State Fair Park.

For those of you who don’t know what a portable Variable Message Sign with a Smart Zone Camera is, it’s a new tool in WSDOT’s bag of tricks, and SCR is the first in the state use it.

Typically, in work zones, WSDOT uses the portable VMS to let drivers know what is going on ahead of them. With the camera, WSDOT Traffic Engineers can actually see what is going on and change the message accordingly. SCR bought six of the Smart Zone Cameras with the portable VMS to use on the I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East project, which starts next year. Until the project starts, we are using them in other projects and now we are featuring it in our fair booth.

Each year, we choose a theme for our fair booths. This year our outside booth focuses on work zone safety. You may have seen these Smart Zone Cameras on the road in our work zones. We use these cameras to monitor how well traffic is moving at our construction sites. Now fair-goers can check out conditions and crowds at the fair. We have a second booth inside the Yakima Sundome that focuses on highway improvement projects and how they benefit our community. You’re invited to visit our booths to find out more about work zone safety and highway improvements.

We hope to see you at the fair!

Editors note: Now that the fair is over the cameras at the fair are offline and being moved to a workzone.