Dive Brief:
- In an effort to better protect road builders and drivers, Kentucky will place automated speed enforcement cameras in highway work zones, the state’s Transportation Cabinet announced Aug. 12.
- The Transportation Cabinet will begin installing speed cameras this summer and fall in select work zones, then continue to build the program in coming years to include more work zones throughout the state. Areas with the cameras will have warning signs and flashing lights to alert drivers.
- In 2024, Kentucky recorded over 1,223 work zone crashes, per the announcement. Those resulted in seven fatalities and 298 injuries. The majority of those killed were motorists or passengers.
Dive Insight:
Kentucky had over $1 billion in new contracts for paving, new road and bridge construction and repairs awarded last year, and the state is on pace to meet that mark again this year, a spokesperson for the Transportation Cabinet told Construction Dive. The cabinet plans to place cameras on four jobsites in the coming months.
Speeding drivers in work zones won’t be ticketed automatically. Instead, a police officer stationed at the end of the affected area will make traffic stops, issuing tickets in person based on camera or detector data. Speeding or traffic violations can carry a $500 fine when workers are present.
“Speeding through work zones isn’t just reckless, it can be deadly,” said Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear in the announcement. “In Kentucky, we believe that protecting our people is always the right thing to do, and now we have a new tool to help make that happen.”
About three in five contractors have experienced at least one vehicle crash in a roadway workzone in the last year, according to a survey of Associated General Contractors of America members, conducted in partnership with construction software firm HCSS. Nearly a third of those surveyed counted five or more crashes.
Contractors believe more can be done to protect workers and motorists, too. Nearly 40% of those surveyed said penalties for speeding in work zones are sufficient, but enforcement is not. The top methods respondents believed could improve safety include greater police presence and stricter enforcement on existing work zone laws.
But Kentucky isn’t the only state doing something.
Beginning early this year, Washington said it would mount work zone speed cameras on trailers on active work zones throughout the state. Like Kentucky, the affected work zones would have signs telling drivers about the cameras and the posted speed limit. Speeding could result in a fine for drivers.
In New York, an automated work zone speed enforcement pilot program was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in September 2021. Earlier this year, the program was extended to 2031 and expanded to double the number of eligible work zones.
