OHIO — Friday marks the end of National Work Zone Awareness Week, but officials say their efforts to push for safety will continue throughout the year. 

In Richland County, ODOT officials joined the county’s engineer’s office to honor Trenton Gallaway, an employee with the office who was killed in a work zone crash on Oct. 2, 2024. The groups partnered to remember Gallaway and to raise awareness of Ohio’s Move Over Law and work zone safety.

“State, county, municipal and contract workers are out every day trying to provide a safe, reliable and efficient highway system for motorists. We all need to do our part to make sure those workers get home safely every day,” said Richland County Engineer, Adam Gove.

The state’s Move Over Law applies to all roadways, including interstates and city streets. Drivers are required to move over and slow down for any stationary vehicle with flashing lights on the side of the road. 

“Safety should be every motorist’s top priority while driving,” said ODOT District Three Deputy Director, Bob Weaver. “Remember, when you’re going through these zones, the men and woman on the highway, that’s their office. And you’re driving through their office at 55-60 mph. Put that into perspective. The only wall that they have is the barrels. We want to ensure that they go home to their loved ones at the end of each day.”

The Ohio State Highway Patrol said there were 4,000 work zone crashes in 2024. Of those, 35% happened with workers present. OSHP said 22 people were killed in 21 fatal crashes and 123 were seriously injured in 97 work zone crashes.

Speed is a major contributor, with 38% of fatal work zone crashes involving excessive speed over the past five years.

ODOT said plans are in place to bring back Operation Cone Zone this year in order to bring increased enforcement into work zones, which lowered crashes and fatalities in 2024 compared to 2023.