Work Zone Safety Projects in the STIP

There’s an old adage you’ve probably heard before – Put your money where your mouth is!  And when it comes to safety – both for MoDOT workers in a work zone and travelers passing through the work zones – MoDOT is walking the talk. As this construction season unfolds, money for helping ensure safer work zones is part of the game plan.

The department’s five-year construction program, called the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP, is providing funds for city, county and state law enforcement officers to monitor work zones and help slow traffic.

“We know that having a law enforcement presence in a work zone is a deterrent – it makes people slow down,” said Bill Whitfield, senior systems management specialist in MoDOT’s Highway Safety Division. “Active enforcement that includes writing tickets and imposing fines causes a reaction, which is to slow down and more carefully pass through the work zone.” 

“This is the first construction season we’ve been able to provide these safety funds and assist the districts in identifying the projects for the special work zones’ support,” said Todd Miller, programming engineer in the Transportation Planning Division. Both Whitfield and Miller worked with the districts’ planners, area engineers and resident engineers to identify the construction projects for the work zone enforcement, to prepare estimates for the enforcement services and to arrange schedules with the law enforcement agencies.

As MoDOT evaluates the success of these safety efforts, Miller expects that more projects will be programmed in next year’s construction program. “We have a responsibility to MoDOT workers and Missouri travelers to do what we can to make traveling in work zones safe,” he said. “We value safety at MoDOT, and we’re looking for innovative methods to help make that happen.”