Connecticut Water Supports Work Zone Safety Awareness Month

CLINTON, CONNECTICUT – April 18, 2008 –   Connecticut Water is supporting the “Work Zone Safety Awareness Month” Campaign in April across Connecticut. Sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Highway Administration, “Work Zone Safety Awareness” was developed to promote the safety of workers and motorists when driving through highway work zones.

“Now that it’s spring you will see an increased number of utility and construction employees working near or in the roads,” said Terrance P. O’Neill, Connecticut Water’s vice president, Service Delivery.  “We join with state officials, public safety, the state Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration in asking motorists to slow down and pay attention to speed limits when traveling through work zones. We want our employees and all road crews to return home safely to their families at the end of each work day.”

The DOT is reporting a 43 percent decrease in the number of total crashes in construction and maintenance zones in Connecticut in the last eight years, but the state experienced two work zone safety deaths in the last two years.  

According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation, in 2006 - which is the last year data is available, more than 1,000 people died in work zone safety crashes nationwide. Of the 1,000 who died, 614 were motorists. 

This month, Connecticut residents can expect to see billboards, highway variable message signs and television ads with the theme, “Work Zones, Double Trouble,” advising them to slow down for work zones.  In Connecticut speeding fines are doubled in work zones and may require a court appearance.

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Connecticut Water Company serves nearly 300,000 people in 54 towns in Connecticut. The towns served include: Ashford, Avon, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Bolton, Brooklyn, Burlington, Canton, Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Columbia, Coventry, Deep River, East Granby, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Essex, Farmington, Griswold, Guilford, Hebron, Killingly, Lebanon, Madison, Manchester, Marlborough, Middlebury, Naugatuck, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook, Plainfield, Plymouth, Portland, Prospect, Somers, South Windsor, Stafford, Stonington, Storrs, Suffield, Thomaston, Thompson, Tolland, Vernon, Voluntown, Waterbury, Westbrook, Willington, Windsor Locks and Woodstock.