WASHINGTON (April 12, 2022) — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) this week highlights the importance of protecting highway construction workers, who will be doing more work repairing and replacing roads and bridges due to funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week provides an opportunity to raise public awareness and urge drivers to help keep road crews safe. This year, FHWA is also reminding state and local governments of resources available to bolster safety programs.
“Safety is the top priority for our Department, and thanks to the historic funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, our roads and bridges will be safer for everyone, including the construction crews hard at work repairing and replacing our nation’s infrastructure,” Deputy Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack said.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law guarantees $5 billion for the new Safe Streets and Roads for All program and $15.6 billion in total funding for the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), FHWA’s signature highway safety funding program.
The HSIP effort complements the Department’s first ever National Roadway Safety Strategy announced in January, a roadmap for addressing the national crisis in roadway fatalities and serious injuries. Consistent with the National Roadway Safety Strategy, FHWA recommends that HSIP funds be used to incorporate a data-driven, holistic, and equitable Safe System Approach to roadway safety that builds in redundancies so if one element of a transportation system fails, other elements provide protection to save lives and prevent serious injuries on our roads.
“All of us need to drive safely to make sure that the men and women who fix our roads and bridges can go home safely to their families and loved ones after every work shift,” Pollack added.
FHWA’s Work Zone Safety Grant Program also continues under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. To date, more than 122,000 field workers, and state, local and Tribal personnel have participated in nearly 4,300 courses.
Visit transportation.gov/nrss.
