Infrastructure is in the news nearly daily and is a hot topic in the nation’s capital as Congress and the president propose ideas to address infrastructure needs.

Infrastructure Week kicks off on Monday and focuses on meeting the nation’s needs for roads and bridges as well as safe travel for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“Infrastructure is critical to roadway safety,” ATSSA President & CEO Stacy Tetschner said. “This week provides one more reminder of the importance of coming together to provide safe travel for all roadway users. In a nation where division is all too common these days, infrastructure unites us.”

Across the country, individuals, ATSSA members, public officials, government agencies, major corporations and at least one university pitched in for National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) to spread the word about the importance of safety in and around roadway work zones.

This year’s NWZAW theme was: Drive Safe. Work Safe. Save Lives. People took a personal approach, used statistics, employed billboards, aired videos and posted to social media all in an effort to heighten awareness of the risks to motorists, their passengers and workers in roadway work zones.

Here are some of the images from efforts across the country for this annual public awareness campaign.

At a regional event in Michigan two years ago, Rachel Snell met Dave Krahulec, chair of The ATSS Foundation Board, and asked if the Foundation had any materials she could use with her students.

She wanted to teach them about the importance of work zone safety, thinking that if they started at a young age, the message would be remembered when they got old enough for a driver’s license. They also could share it with their parents and encourage them to be alert when approaching and passing through a roadway work zone.

This week, Krahulec delivered 250 of the Foundation’s youth activity books to her when he traveled to Michigan for the national kickoff event for National Work Zone Awareness Week.

That's when the widow of a roadway worker found out her idea had inspired their creation.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wore a button depicting the face of Brandyn Spychalski on her orange suit jacket as she spoke at the national kickoff for National Work Zone Awareness Week this morning.

She urged everyone to recognize that orange work zone cones represent people and to “see the humanity” of one another.

“This is not a hassle. This is not a distraction. This is a workplace,” Whitmer said of roadway work zones. “Each of us deserves to be safe in the workplace.”

National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) started on Monday with events being held across the country to raise awareness of the importance of work zone safety. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) hosted this year’s kickoff event, which was livestreamed.

The Spring issue of Roadway Safety magazine is now available with a cover story that’s apt as we observe National Work Zone Awareness Week.

We take a look at “smart vests” being developed in Virginia in a collaboration between the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Audi of America, Qualcomm and American Tower Corp.

The smart vests provide an example of the potential for lifesaving benefits of cellular vehicle-to-everything (CV2X) technology.

Our first “Convention Extra” is also available online now.