Spike in Work-Zone Deaths Worries Colorado Lawmakers

Colorado has witnessed a spike in road work zones deaths, prompting five Congress to question U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding road safety and funding for states. The Congress members are looking for answers as to how federal agencies oversee the road safety process.

Data released by the Colorado Department of Transportation has many worried with details on how the number of construction zone deaths witnessed an increase from 11 in 2021 to a high of 28 in the current year. It is worth mentioning that the deaths have increased despite Colorado inking the 2020-2023 Highway Safety Improvement Program in 2020. The program was meant to ensure a decrease in crashes that led to fatalities and serious injuries. However, instead of a decrease, there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths.

The Congress members have highlighted the increase in deadly accidents in Colorado construction zones in 2024. One of the serious accidents involved two women who were killed this summer when they were stopped by a flagger. In another tragic incident, three people lost their lives in August this year after a loaded tractor-trailer overturned. Another three people were killed in the following month as a semi crashed into a van.

One of the contractors who has not been named has reportedly had a meeting with many Colorado politicians, sharing details on CDOT’s safety plan. This includes documents that illustrate CDOT withholding “traffic flow patterns from contractors, started new construction zones without the signature signoff of the onsite design professional engineers.” It also mentions how safety equipment had been “improperly used.”

As per reports, the lawmakers have asked for answers from Buttigieg regarding many questions.

The lawmakers want to know how the U.S. Department of Transportation oversees the federal tax dollars being used by states and how it ensures they are used properly. They also want an answer on the procedures being utilized by USDOT to address safety concerns. Another concern of the lawmakers relates to the steps being taken at the federal level regarding the spike in Colorado work zone deaths. The lawmakers have also asked for the oversight the USDOT conducted over CDOT to make it comply with safety regulations. It also includes questions about the ramifications in case the USDOT is not satisfied that the regulations are being implemented.

Lawmakers have set a deadline of November 22 for a reply to all of their questions.

CDOT talking to Equipment World has said it is concerned about the increase in work zone deaths. It also points out that the deaths come at a time when there is a record period of road work going on.

The department has maintained that it “pays particular attention to and proactively highlights the safety issues in construction zones because those areas are different than a normal roadway configuration by their very nature,” adding “that the problematic driving behaviors that we normally call out, such as speeding, impaired driving and distracted driving can cause grave consequences above and beyond what they do along other stretches of roadway.”

The five members of Congress who signed the letter to Buttigieg with the questions include Greg Lopez, Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn from Colorado, Jodey Arrington from Texas, and Sam Graves from Missouri.

The story was originally published in Equipment World.

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