CDOT ceremony honors the 62 workers who have died in the line of duty

Sixty-two employees of the Colorado Department of Transportation who died in the line of duty since 1929 were honored Thursday as part of CDOT’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony.

The ceremony is held in conjunction with the National Work Zone Awareness Week. CDOT officials were joined by representatives of the Colorado State Patrol, the Federal Highway Administration and The Colorado Contractors Association.

“Remembrance Day not only honors our fallen colleagues, it also serves as an important reminder to those traveling the state’s roadways to make safety their first priority,” said CDOT Executive Director Shoshana Lew in a news release. “With the road construction season upon us, it’s imperative that those who are constructing and maintaining our highways remain safe while they work. Please remember that a person’s life is priceless, a traffic slowdown is a minor inconvenience.”

CDOT reported there were 15 crashes, resulting in 16 fatalities in Colorado construction and maintenance work zones in 2023.

Nationwide, about 106,000 crashes happened in work zones in 2021, with 956 fatalities and an estimated 42,000 injuries.

“While highway workers are at great risk every day, it is just as critical for motorists to be safe and responsible in work zones. In fact, four out of five work zone fatalities are people driving through work zones, not highway workers,” said the release.

CDOT averages between 175 and 200 projects on its roadways each year, not including maintenance projects.

CDOT has approximately 3,000 employees across the state and manages more than 23,000 lane miles of highway and 3,429 bridges.