ST. LOUIS – Spring is here and soon construction and maintenance work zones will be popping up like daffodils across the region.
Employees from MoDOT, St. Louis County, Missouri Highway Patrol, construction industry partners and their families will run, walk and jog in the 6th Work Zone Awareness 5K Run/Walk in Chesterfield on Saturday, April 13. They want motorists remember that construction season is underway and to watch out for workers in those highway construction and maintenance work zones.
In 2016, MoDOT maintenance worker Lyndon Ebker, was killed in a work zone. Ebker was a 30-year employee and was part of bridge flushing operation when he was struck by a vehicle in Franklin County.
Workers like Mark Fresen, also know what it’s like to be the victim of a work zone crash. Fresen was a MoDOT maintenance worker in 2009, when he was struck in a work zone on Interstate 70 in St. Louis County. He suffered disabling injuries that ended his career and changed his life. Fresen attends the run/walk each year and champions efforts to make work zones safer.
His presence and that of other fallen workers’ families is a testament to what can happen when motorists are distracted in work zones. Since 1946, 27 St. Louis area MoDOT workers have lost their lives while performing their work on area roadways.
Industry partners, along with MoDOT and St. Louis County volunteers, organized the event to bring attention to increasing number of workers who will be on the roadways, this spring. April is considered the start of construction season across most of the country. The race will mark the end of National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 8 – 12.
“April is the time when you start to see a dramatic increase in the number of construction and maintenance crews out on the roadways and we do our best to mark our work zones and be visible. This is the sixth year we’ve included the run as part of our efforts to educate the public about work zone safety, and we need motorists to help us. The loss our fallen workers over the years is the starkest reminder of what’s at stake. This is about saving lives and if we all work together, everyone can go home safely,” said Mark Croarkin, MoDOT’s assistant district engineer in St. Louis.
Register at: https://www.athlinks.com/event/work-zone-5k-2018-132863Races begin at 8 a.m. at the MoDOT Transportation Management Center, 14301 South Outer Forty Road in Chesterfield. All participants will receive a race T-shirt, medal and a drawstring bag. T-shirt sizes are guaranteed for participants who register by March 27. Awards will be presented to male and female overall winners, and age category winners. The cost is $15.
The race is sponsored by private industry partners: AECOM, Bartlett & West, Breckenridge Material Company, Bussen Quarries, CBB, Civil Design, Inc., CMT, Collins & Hermann, Inc., Concrete Strategies LLC, EFK Moen, Fred Weber, Inc., George Butler Associates, Inc., Gershenson Construction Company, HDR Engineering, Inc., HR Green, Millstone Weber, N.B. West, Pace Construction Company, St. Louis-Kansas City Carpenters Regional Council, TSI Geotechnical, Inc., Thouvenot, Wade & Moerchen, Inc., and WSP.