The Colorado Department of Transportation announced on April 20 that it is participating in National Work Zone Awareness Week, which runs from April 20 to 24. The department is urging drivers to slow down and stay alert in construction and maintenance zones, following a rise in speeding incidents on state roads.
Work zones are essential for maintaining Colorado’s transportation system but can be dangerous for both workers and motorists. In 2025, there were nine deaths and over five hundred injuries related to work zone crashes in the state. Speeding remains the leading factor in fatal accidents statewide, with risks heightened by narrow lanes and shifting traffic patterns within work areas.
The issue holds personal significance for CDOT after two employees, Trent C. Umberger and Nate Jones, were killed while working roadside on September 4, 2024. Their deaths bring the total number of CDOT employees lost in work zones since 1929 to sixty-four. A special commemoration will be held by the Grand Junction regional team at the site of this incident.
“Every day, our crews and contractor partners work just feet away from live traffic to keep Colorado’s roads safe and reliable,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew. “Every name etched on our memorial rock represents a life lost – a colleague, a friend, a member of our CDOT family. National Work Zone Awareness Week is an important reminder that when drivers slow down and pay attention, they help ensure these workers can return home safely at the end of the day.”
Nationally, recent data shows an increase in total work zone crashes between 2022 and 2023 but a slight decrease in fatalities during that period. Four out of five people killed in these incidents are drivers or passengers rather than highway workers. In Colorado specifically, fatalities dropped by seventy percent from crash data recorded in 2024.
CDOT manages between one hundred seventy-five and two hundred construction projects each year alongside regular maintenance activities across Colorado’s highways according to its official website. Fines for most violations double within work zones as part of efforts to deter risky driving behavior.
To address ongoing safety concerns, CDOT launched the Colorado Speed Enforcement Program last year using automated cameras to identify vehicles exceeding speed limits by ten miles per hour or more within active construction sites; violators receive civil penalties as part of this initiative expected to reduce fatalities by up to thirty-seven percent according to information provided on its official website.
According to its official website, CDOT works toward improving quality of life through integrated transportation solutions while overseeing infrastructure statewide including interstates and highways as well as administering grants for aviation and transit support.
