More than 100 infrastructure road projects planned for Macomb County as officials urge patience
Macomb County officials urge drivers to stay alert for road construction season
They say bottom line is, don’t drive distracted - stay off the cell phones and help make sure both workers and drivers go home safe to their families every night.
MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Macomb County officials are unveiling $85 million worth of road construction projects running between now to this summer -- and beyond.
The backstory:
They’re also asking drivers to look out for the workers on these projects during this National Work Zone Safety Week.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and roadway officials want all drivers to do their part.
There’s more than 100 infrastructure improvement projects planned for the county and they are using this week to remind drivers to slow down and make it safer for road crews - emphasizing the message for National Work Zone Awareness Week.
Officials described some of the jobs at the site of the North River Road rehabilitation project in Harrison Township. It's one of hundreds of work zones in play when you add in the state and county projects.
They say bottom line is, don’t drive distracted - stay off the cell phones and help make sure both workers and drivers go home safe to their families every night.
"We’re going to have over a hundred projects throughout the summer going on as far as road construction, bridge construction," said Bryan Santo, director, Department of Roads for Macomb County. "It’s very important to remember that safe actions save lives."
"It’s that constant reminder to tell people please, the way you drive brings these people home alive," said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel. "And the last thing we want is to have you go to court because you killed somebody or you harmed somebody…we don’t want to see that and more importantly we want to make sure all these folks come back to work the very next day."
Why you should care:
Penalties for injury to a road worker (or person in a work zone) include up to one year in jail and fines up to $7,500.
Penalties for the death of a road worker (or person in a work zone) is up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $7,500.
Additional consequences for drivers ticketed in a work zone include fines being doubles, higher driver's license points and higher insurance rates.
Macomb County road crews have already seen a fellow worker killed in a construction zone. And just this past weekend a driver was killed and passenger hospitalized after a car crashed into the back of a construction vehicle in a work zone on the Lodge.