WALKER, Mich. — As road construction ramps up for the 2026 season, the men and women staffing those projects issued a plea to drivers: let us work safely. April 20 through 24 is National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week.
On Tuesday, the Kent County Road Commission hosted representatives from several neighborhoods across West Michigan. All of them ask drivers to slow down in construction zones to keep themselves and workers safe.
"When we drive through those zones, what that means at the home front, our actions, our decisions behind that wheel make a difference on whether we go home safely as motorists or whether the men and women in those work zones go home safely as well to their families," said Kent County Road Commissioner Director of Local Road Construction and Maintenance Steve Roon.
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In lots of construction projects, there is just feet between workers and traffic. While speed limits on expressways is reduced to 45 miles per hour in construction areas, many drivers go much faster, putting workers at a higher risk of being injured, said Roon.
"They go out there and they work so close to really a life or death situation," said Roon. "That safety for our men and women in that work zone it's their lives."
