NAPA, ATSSA aim for worker safety considerations in next highway bill

NAPA, ATSSA aim for worker safety considerations in next highway bill

Work zone safety & Washington, D.C.

The National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and ATSSA are leading a coalition to address work zone safety, ensuring the voices of roadway workers resonate in legislative halls.

House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman David Rouzer (R-NC) took the opportunity during a hearing earlier this year to talk about the dangers facing road work crews daily. ATSSA member and Chair-elect, Haley Norman testified at this hearing.

“Reckless driving puts our roadside workers at greater risk of injury or death,” Rouzer said. “According to the Associated General Contractors of America, 64% of contractors reported a motor vehicle had crashed into their work zone since 2020. This number is unacceptable. Again, our enforcement can discourage reckless driving in work zones, but we can also look at ways to better design work zones and related traffic patterns to curtail these incidents.”

Rouzer was speaking from experience. Working with National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) member Fred Smith Co. of Construction Partners Inc., the congressman toured a job site where workers were paving a portion of Interstate 95 and saw how important safety measures are to keep workers safe from highway traffic passing through work zones.

It’s all part of a larger effort by NAPA, ATSSA and other organizations to take messaging on work zone safety beyond National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) and into the halls of power, where decision-makers will soon write the next highway bill.

The mission of the coalition is to enhance work zone safety legislation at the federal level, working with members of Congress and federal agencies to make meaningful changes to work zone conditions.

“Over the last year, awareness and education has really been the center point in our efforts on the Hill, making work zone safety top-of-mind for members of the House T&I committee,” NAPA Director, Government Affairs, Mitch Baldwin said.

Engaging on work zone safety on Capitol Hill has already led to some creative approaches, Baldwin said, noting that one lawmaker suggested that work zone safety policies, like work zone contingency funds, could possibly find a home within another bill.

The contingency funds were originally included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and intended to allow contractors to access additional federal money to make work zones safer through innovative methods. Baldwin said the rollout of the additional federal share has been slow, however, with only three states participating.

Baldwin said one of the goals is to establish a federal working group on work zone safety to bring all these ideas, and the relevant stakeholders, to the table.

While Baldwin said advocates for roadway construction workers would soon be pulling out all the stops to ensure their safety is considered in the next highway bill, he cautioned that there is no guarantee that driving behaviors will be changed.

“This is a multi-faceted issue, and changing the law of the state or changing the law at the federal level is not going to necessarily change the outcomes,” he said, adding that he hopes new technology will begin to change driving behaviors.

ATSSA Innovation & Technical Services Manager Nagham Matout El-Zine leads ATSSA’s New Product Rollout, which includes recent innovations that could be the future of work zone safety.

Attenuators, traffic cones and drones are already spotted on job sites, but this next wave of innovations leverages this equipment to solve lighting, traffic control, and work zone intrusion challenges.

From cones that detect reckless motorists to an automated flagger, many products are aimed at keeping traffic away from roadway workers, including a machine that deploys rumble strips, eliminating a risk for crew members setting up work zones.

Submitted by NAPA. For more information on NAPA’s Government Affairs initiatives or to contact the team, visit https://www.asphaltpavement.org/expertise/advocacy.

About NAPA

Founded in 1955, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (AsphaltPavement.org) is the only trade association that exclusively represents the interests of the asphalt pavement material producer/contractor on the national level with Congress, government agencies, and other national trade and business organizations. NAPA supports an active research program designed

to improve the quality of asphalt pavements and paving techniques used in the construction of roadways, parking lots, airports, and environmental and recreational facilities. NAPA provides technical, educational, and marketing materials and information to its members and supplies product information to users and specifiers of paving materials.