The Ohio Turnpike will be celebrating its 70th anniversary on Oct. 1, 2025. The entire 241-mile toll road first opened for traffic on Oct. 1, 1955. Each month, we are highlighting significant aspects of the toll road’s 70-year history.
This month, we recognize the essential work that has been performed daily by our maintenance/roadway crews over the past seven decades. They have played a significant role in keeping motorists safe by maintaining the roadway and bridges, repairing pavement, arriving at the scene of emergencies (often as first responders), removing snow and ice, installing signage and markings, and promoting safe work zones, and more. These highway maintenance tasks are vital to preventing crashes and ensuring that the toll road remains as safe, durable, and efficient as possible.
However, this essential work can only be effective with the cooperation of all motorists – driving passenger vehicles and commercial trucks – who are self-aware of unsafe driving behaviors behind the wheel, such as speeding, distracted driving, and following vehicles too closely.
National Work Zone Awareness Week, which was held April 21-25, was a reminder and a call-to-action for all motorists to drive safely through highway work zones and to be aware of the men and women working in these zones so that they can return home safely to their families at the end of the day.
Tragically, a 23-year-old maintenance worker with the West Virginia Turnpike was killed in a work zone on I-77 while performing asphalt work on April 14. According to published reports, a 28-year-old truck driver swerved to avoid entering the work zone when his trailer swung into the zone hitting the worker. A state trooper reported that distracted driving was a factor in the collision.
As part of our 70th Anniversary celebration to recognize the critical work that is performed each day by our maintenance/roadway crews to keep travelers safe, we would like to share with you a new video to raise awareness of work zone safety and to keep our maintenance/roadway crews safe. |
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