NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — This week is Work Zone Awareness Week and Kansas Department of Transportation Area Superintendent for Reno, Harvey and Butler counties Tom McCartney is asking the driving public to pay attention any time they see a KDOT vehicle.
"Be aware of your surroundings," McCartney said. "Try to prepare when you're going into a work zone. Get away from the distractions, the cell phone, the radio, eating and drinking in the car, anything that's going to distract them from what's going on, especially coming into a work zone. There is limited space. There's usually a lot of things going on, a lot of equipment. People sometimes appear from a piece of equipment out. They might be a little farther out than people think in that work zone, so people need to concentrate and focus on everything that's happening when they get into a work zone. It's very important for the safety of everyone involved."
McCartney related a previous accident where a KDOT worker was hurt in a work zone.
"We had a supervisor get hit,it's probably been five years ago, on the interstate," McCartney said. "It was just a freak deal. He stepped out to mark a hole that we were going to patch on the interstate and a van, in one split second, hit him and threw him into his vehicle. Thankfully, he survived, but he had significant injuries."
KDOT crews are on just a few projects right now, but that number will continue to grow as we get into the summer months.
"We have probably, I would say, five projects going on right now," McCartney said. "It will build more as we get into the summer months and that's construction projects, we're going to start mowing soon, we'll start spraying soon. We patch continuously, it seems like, so we've always got people out."
The state has a move over law in place and fines also increase in work zones in case of traffic violations.