The roads have been a lot emptier in recent weeks as New York remains on PAUSE due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), reducing congestion and leading to faster average speeds, and the MTA wants to ensure that workers out on location remain safe. As the national observance of Work Zone Awareness Week winds down, the need for safety in live traffic highway environments is perpetual and critically important at all times, especially now. 

 

“Safety is part of everything we do at MTA Bridges and Tunnels,” said Daniel DeCrescenzo, Acting President of MTA Bridges and Tunnels. “During this time of the pandemic, we are cognizant not just of health-related safety concerns, but also in regard to traffic safety. With traffic down and speeds up on our facilities, concerns about work crew safety are an important topic for all of us.”

 

As the MTA is taking greater steps to ensure employee safety from COVID-19, it is also taking the same measures for workers out at construction sites, or performing road maintenance.

 

Bridges and Tunnels employees and contractors continue their vigilance in and at facility work zones as we enter the busiest construction and maintenance repair period in the calendar year, heightening the importance of work crew safety on the road.

To improve safety precautions MTA Bridges and Tunnels has added more control vehicles at work locations, implemented additional lane closures, conducted toolbox safety talks, and reinforced strict compliance with approved plans to contractors, in addition to increasing signage along roadways, posting portable speed limit signs in addition to work zone advisories.

 

When driving through a work zone, motorists should adhere to similar guidelines. When driving on any of the seven bridges or through the two tunnels managed by MTA Bridges and Tunnels, travel with caution and vigilance: look out for signage or new traffic patterns, take notice of any barriers or crew members out on the road, and, most important -- reduce your speed.