On Thursday, October 13, in the middle of the day, two men were killed in a work zone on I-35W when a driver in his new sports car lost control. The driver got too close to a construction barrier, over-corrected , and plowed into the ditch where the men were installing electrical components for the freeway. We don’t know if the driver was speeding, but even with the construction the speed limit was 70 mph. The workers weren’t on the roadway, they weren’t distracting traffic. They were doing nothing wrong, but they didn’t get to go home.
Six people have died in Minnesota highway work zones this year. Eleven died last year. It’s easy to become impatient with road construction. But there are two families tonight who have lost a family member, whose father/husband/son who is not coming home. Please, slow down around road work. Your life and the lives of those who fix your roads depend on it.