Enough is Enough: Road Crews

While many of drivers are heading home for the night, road crews are just getting started.

Workers for GP Roadway Solutions are getting ready for the night. They're installing crash cushions at the Aiea offramp.

Gene Lehano is the superintendent.

"Later in the evening, it gets more scary due to drunk driving, people going home late, people tired, so we really got to keep watch on what's going on as far as the traffic," Lehano said.

He and other workers have seen a lot of close calls over the years while working on the freeways and highways.

"We have people coming into the traffic control, come into the cones. We may have lanes closed or ramps closed but you know, to some of the motorists it's like, I need to get off the ramp so they'll continue on that ramp."

"I've seen equipment get damaged, arrow boards being hit, flipped over, guardrails."

He says fortunately, his workers have never gotten hit by vehicles.

No doubt, it's a dangerous job.

That's why they take a lot of precautions.

"We always try to keep the traffic in view while we're working. We have buffers, we keep our truck as a buffer in case anyone comes into the work zone, the truck is there. They'll hit the truck before they come into where we're working," Lehano said.

They also hire special duty police officers to help out.

Lehano says without the police cars nearby, drivers seem to ignore the reduced speed limit.

"If they don't see a blue light they'll just go. If they're coming off a road that's 45 and a work zone is 35, they'll still continue at 45."

And it's not only vehicles they have to worry about.

"I've had things thrown," he said. "A full beer bottle just splattered over the ground."

Bottom line, these crews want us to know they're doing work to ensure our safety, so we should do our part to help ensure their safety.
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GPRoadwaySolutions
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