Work Zone Safety Arkansas
Officials with ARDOT said currently there are 418 miles of roadway that are under construction in Arkansas.*
The Arkansas Highway Commission and the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) are urging a unified effort between citizens and workers to increase work zone safety following two ARDOT employee deaths in work zones in a matter of weeks.
The deaths of Petty and Cottier are part of a dangerous trend, Arkansas Department of Transportation spokesman Dave Parker said, with the agency finding that work zone crashes jumped 70% in the past four years. By 2021, the number of reported work zone crashes had reached 2,100, Parker said.
“On behalf of the Arkansas Highway Commission, we are deeply saddened and concerned by the alarming rise in work zone crashes, injuries and deaths in Arkansas – especially the two most recent deaths in the past month,” said Robert Moore, Chair of the Commission. “Our hearts go out to the families whose loved ones went to work one day and never made it home.”
In Fall 2021, ARDOT began development of a statewide work zone safety campaign. On February 2, 2022, ARDOT and industry stakeholders, together with Arkansas State Police and Arkansas Highway Police, rolled out this campaign that includes a statewide increased enforcement of reckless and distracted driving laws in work zones. The Move Over Law driver laws in Arkansas drivers are required to move over one lane away from emergency vehicles on the side of the road. If you can't move over, slow down. More about the Move Over Law.
ARDOT is conducting a thorough review of the incidents to make sure crews are following all the proper safety protocols in work zones. The Department is also asking citizens to help by practicing safe driving through work zones.
“We are urging Arkansans to do their part: slow down in work zones, stay off the phone, and pay attention,” said ARDOT Director Lorie Tudor. “It’s going to take all of us working together to reverse this concerning trend.”
