Construction shifts after Pa. inspector severely hurt

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will move more work to daylight hours after a state inspector was severely injured during a weekend overnight incident as part of the reconstruction of the Jerome Street Bridge in McKeesport.

Moving more work to daylight hours will mean more traffic headaches for motorists in some areas, PennDOT District Executive Cheryl Moon-Sirianni said Wednesday, but it is imperative to protect the safety of workers at construction sites. Initially, she said, that decision will involve more daytime work for two projects along Route 28, the reconfiguration of the interchange at the Highland Park Bridge and the repaving work between Fox Chapel and Creighton.

Additional projects will have more daytime work added in the next few weeks. One side benefit could be that work is done faster.

For many years, PennDOT has required contractors to work during overnight hours to reduce the impact on traffic and allow a project to be finished in less time. But safety and the lack of workers who want to work or deliver construction materials overnight is causing the department to rethink that position.

Speaking at a news conference along Bates Street in Oakland, where a project to widen a bridge on the Parkway East to extend the Glenwood exit ramp begins Friday, Ms. Moon-Sirianni said the district office was shaken by the incident early Sunday. The department has held additional safety meetings at almost all of its construction sites this week.

“Safety is all we have been talking about this week,” Ms. Moon-Sirianni said. “We have workers inches away from death all the time.”

The inspector, who had worked for the department for about 10 months and had been on the bridge project for two months, suffered a broken leg and a broken hip in the accident.

The bridge is open to one lane of eastbound traffic but the westbound lanes are closed for a $15.44 million reconstruction by crews from Joseph B. Fay Co. Jason Zang, who oversees PennDOT construction for Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence

counties, said just after midnight on Sunday morning a driver crashed through cones marking the construction site, struck two other vehicles, then accelerated and hit the inspector, dragging her for some distance into an area where concrete was setting.

Police have filed 21 charges against the driver, Harry B. Hobson, 60, of McKeesport, including aggravated assault by vehicle while under the fluence of alcohol, recklessly endangering other people, drunk driving and careless driving.

Ryan Surrena, executive vice president at Fay, noted about 10 other workers were within about 10 feet of where the inspector was struck and many of them almost refused to return to the site.

“It really shook our workers up,” said Mr. Surrena. “These workers shouldn’t have to put their lives in jeopardy. A hard hat and a safety vest aren’t going to protect people from a 500pound vehicle.”

Ms. Moon-Sirianni said electronic speed enforcement — where well-marked vehicles electronically monitor the speed in construction zones and those going more than 11 miles above the speed limit receive a ticket in the mail — has been very successful at reducing incidents around construction sites. But that system is only available at a limited number of sites.

State Sen. Jim Brewster, D-McKeesport and a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, called on other motorists to report drivers who pose a danger in construction zones. Friends and family also have a responsibility to encourage safe driving, he said.

“One of the things we can’t do is legislate commonsense [among drivers],” he said.