DOT crews tackle daily perils of road work

Imagine a car speeding 65 miles per hour a few feet from your office cubicle. State transportation workers say that's pretty much what they go through every day.

To mark National Work Zone Awareness Week, Region 10 of the New York State Department of Transportation Tuesday invited members of the media to witness up close the perils work crews deal with daily in trying to keep roads safe.

In Islandia near Exit 58 of the Long Island Expressway, a crew of about a dozen workers replaced 52 feet of guardrail damaged in a recent car accident.

Using torches, wrenches, sledgehammers, and their own work boots, the crew banged, burned and kicked out sections of the galvanized steel rail and replaced them with new ones.

While the workers toiled on the shoulder of the eastbound lanes, just a few yards away cars and trucks roared by - many not slowing down despite the orange cones and flashing lights of DOT trucks.

Last year, there were 511 work-zone auto accidents in New York, including 11 fatalities. One DOT maintenance worker was among those killed.

On Long Island alone, vehicles intruded into state roadwork sites 23 times in 2009 - resulting in four serious injuries.

"Our highway workers want to go home safely at the end of every day," said Richard Causin, regional transportation maintenance engineer for the DOT who was at the work site Tuesday.

Transportation officials offered several tips for drivers, including: Slow down; keep a safe distance between other cars, barriers, construction equipment and workers; and merge as soon as possible when approaching a lane closure.

"With the cooperation of alert, thoughtful drivers and the assistance of law enforcement, we are striving to keep our work zones safe to enable all of us who use Long Island roadways to remain safe," DOT regional director Subi Chakraborti said in a statement.