GCRC urges drivers to ‘respect the zone so we all get home’

Gerrad A. Godley, Construction Department manager for the Genesee County Road Commission, kicked off National Work Zone Awareness Week on Tuesday. Photo by Lania Rocha

GRAND BLANC TWP. — In August of 2002, a 23-year-old Grand Blanc man jumped on his Harley one night around 10:15 p.m., and headed to work through the construction zone on Saginaw Street.

“There were flood lights all over,” recalled Grand Blanc Township Police Chief William Renye. “There was a lot of action, jack hammers, cement trucks.”

A few miles from the man’s home, a car turned in front of him. Witnesses reported that the man had no chance to hit the brakes before the collision that sent the rider airborne.

“He had compound fractures in both legs,” Renye said. “His ankle was shattered. He underwent eight hours of surgery.”

The man’s future was uncertain, but one year later he returned to work.

“And he is standing here in front of you today, giving this speech,” Renye said. “I’m one of the lucky ones. I survived.”

Renye was among several speakers who addressed a large crowd at a press conference kicking off National Work Zone Awareness Week on Tuesday, April 22, at the Grand Blanc Township Police Department.

The annual event began in 1997. This year’s theme is “Respect the zone so we all get home.”

According to the most recent data available through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2023, 898 people were killed in work zone crashes. Of those, 705 were drivers and/or their passengers.

Gerrad A. Godley, Construction Department manager for the GCRC, said those numbers also include law enforcement officers and pedestrians, bicyclists and children.

Godley urged drivers to heed the signs and signals, slow down, stay alert and understand that “every worker, every motorist, and every pedestrian going through a work zone has a family waiting for them to get home at the end of the day.”

“We risk our lives to improve yours,” he said.

Work zones may seem inconvenient, “but they’re not places for speeding, distractions or reckless driving,” Godley said, adding that slowing down and paying attention only adds a few minutes to one’s commute.

Grand Blanc Township Supervisor Scott Bennett also shared some words of wisdom, saying, “Behind every orange cone and flashing sign is a worker working hard to improve our roads.”

They work in the heat and the cold, in dangerous conditions, he said.

“These are not inconvenience zones,” Bennett said. “They’re work zones, safety zones, progress zones.”