By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Missouri transportation officials say there will be more road crews than ever before on the highways this summer. The record number of construction projects means a greater likelihood of accidents.
MO-DOT officials say to expect more than one-thousand separate highway construction zones statewide this year as part of the agency's Smoother, Safer, Sooner program.
Last year, three transportation workers were killed and another 69 were injured in work zone accidents in Missouri. MO-DOT district engineer Ed Hassinger says motorists need to be more careful.
"It's just a dangerous place and people need to pay attention," Hassinger said. "If they do that, everything will be good for them and for the people that are out there that need a little respect when they're out there trying to fix things for them."
Hassinger says driver inattention, speeding, drinking or drug use, improper lane changes and tail-gating cause most work zone accidents.