AASHTO Journal - Report Details New York State Roadway Safety Efforts

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) (above) recently highlighted in a report the year-end results of several initiatives aimed at keeping both highway workers and motorists safe on roadways statewide.

[Above photo by the New York Governor’s Office]

Those efforts include a new work zone speed enforcement pilot program, a roadway safety partnership between state transportation agencies and state and local law enforcement entities, and a new law designed to better protect motorists in disabled vehicles.

“New York has zero tolerance for negligent or aggressive behavior that endangers our men and women in labor who work hard every day to keep us moving,” Gov. Hochul noted in a statement. “Work zone speed limits and other restrictions protect highway workers making our roads safer for everyone, and the actions we have taken this year are proving to be effective.”

The report tracked results of an automated work zone speed monitoring pilot program launched in April at 20 sites operated by the New York State Department of Transportation and 10 on the New York State Thruway.

Meanwhile, state troopers or local police officers dressed as highway maintenance workers in active NYSDOT or Thruway work zones across New York during “Operation Hardhat” identified and cited motorists for a number of violations, including disobeying flagging personnel, speeding through work zones, cell phone and seatbelt use, and/or violations of the state’s “Move Over” law. In 2023, Operation Hardhat issued 2,919 tickets as part of 84 distinct deployments statewide.

NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez stressed that those efforts are aimed at protecting the lives of highway workers, who are “absolutely critical” to the work her department conducts on roadways all across the state.

“I am calling on the very people they serve – the traveling public – to please respect our crew members and the important work that they do,” she said. “All it takes is a moment’s glance off the road to turn a typical commute into a tragedy with lifelong consequences.”