Orange County urges drivers to slow down in active work zones

Orange County officials warned drivers to slow down, stay alert and move over in active work zones as county crews continued daily construction and maintenance work on roads across the county. The message, posted April 17 by County Executive Steve Neuhaus and the Orange County Department of Public Works, framed the risk as immediate for both highway workers and motorists passing through Orange County’s roadway work zones.

Neuhaus said the warning was driven by recent incidents involving distracted driving and by the fact that the people working along county roads are family members, not abstractions. DPW Commissioner Erik Denega and Highway Superintendent Adrian DeWitt also emphasized that crews face serious danger when drivers ignore cones, signs and lane shifts while infrastructure repairs are underway.

The county’s warning landed alongside state data that show the problem is not theoretical. New York said there were 450 work-zone intrusions in 2024 on state roads maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation and the New York State Thruway Authority. More than 150 of those intrusions led to injuries and four ended in fatalities. The state defines a work-zone intrusion as a vehicle entering a portion of roadway closed for construction or maintenance.

The risk has also remained high nationally. Work-zone fatalities rose from 670 in 2014 to 899 in 2023, according to national safety data, an average of more than two deaths a day. New York’s own 2025 figures showed 572 work-zone crashes, with 87 injuries and three deaths. On the Thruway system, work-zone crashes increased 46 percent from 2024 to 2025.

The county’s message came just as National Work Zone Awareness Week ran April 20 through April 24 under the theme “Safe Actions, Save Lives.” Gov. Kathy Hochul used the week’s kickoff April 20 to press drivers to slow down, stay alert and follow the Move Over Law in work zones. State guidance says motorists must move over a lane if safely possible and slow down when passing stopped vehicles, including highway construction and maintenance vehicles.

Orange County’s Department of Public Works oversees highways, bridges, county buildings, sewer operations, solid waste facilities, the county airport, vehicle fleets and watershed and special districts, giving the warning added weight. The agency that keeps county infrastructure running is also the one asking drivers to make a simple choice that can keep a commute from becoming a crash scene.