While stimulus funding has spurred scores of road projects throughout the state, it has also increased the danger zones for those working alongside passing cars, sometimes in the darkness, with the only barrier being plastic cones or barrels.
Those who work on the roadways were reminded yesterday of the danger they face after a state highway worker was killed by an alleged drunk driver.
“The public has to realize how vulnerable these men and women are,” said state police spokesman David Procopio.
Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said that all safety procedures were followed at the construction site where the worker was killed.
About 10 hours after the highway worker was killed Tuesday night, a state police trooper was injured when the driver of another car rear-ended him as he worked a detail along Interstate 195 in Mattapoisett.
Yesterday’s collision was the most recent in a string of crashes that killed one trooper and injured nearly 10 more this summer.
“You can’t say it’s going to take a tragedy [to stop the crashes] because we’ve seen numerous tragedies already,” Procopio said.
