(ORLANDO, FL) – During this year’s National Work Zone Awareness Week, April 9 – 13, 2018, the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) joins the Federal Highway Administration and fellow transportation agencies in promoting safe driving habits to reduce work zone incidents. CFX continually works to enhance and expand its world-class transportation network to meet the mobility needs of drivers in Central Florida. As a result of new construction and roadway maintenance, drivers are likely to encounter work zones while driving throughout the region.
Work zones create a temporary inconvenience but are necessary to improve the transportation system for everyone. Work zones are set up with your safety in mind. Please do your part to keep yourself, fellow drivers, and highway workers safe. CFX offers the following eight safety tips for drivers to safely navigate work zones:
- Wear Your Seatbelt. It is your best defense in a crash.
- Expect the Unexpected. Work zones change often. The area you drove through yesterday may look different today.
- Avoid Distractions. Distracted driving in a work zone can have deadly consequences. Put down your phone and keep your eyes on the road.
- Pay Attention to Your Surroundings and Other Drivers. Narrowed traffic patterns provide less ability to maneuver around other vehicles safely. Paying attention can prevent the need for evasive actions.
- Don’t Speed or Tailgate. Keep a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you and don’t speed. Tailgating and speeding lead to crashes with other vehicles and field workers.
- Obey Road Crews and Signs. Flaggers know how best to move traffic safely in work zones. The warning signs are there to help you and other drivers move safely.
- Be Patient and Stay Calm. Work zone crew members are working to improve the road and make your future drive better. Stay calm and drive safely.
- Be Courteous. Merge with caution and do not change lanes in a work zone.
CFX’s current work plan includes 40 miles of road widening and 60 miles of resurfacing projects. To provide area drivers with the latest information about CFX roadway projects and construction alerts, CFX encourages drivers to check for project construction information and daily construction alerts at https://www.cfxway.com/for-travelers/projects/. Drivers can also follow @DRIVEEPASS on twitter for the latest construction and traffic alerts.
About the Central Florida Expressway Authority
The Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) is an independent agency of the state that operates and maintains a regional network of expressways for three million residents and more than 68 million visitors in Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties. Created by the Florida Legislature in 2014, CFX’s 118-mile user-funded system includes 815 center lane miles, 69 interchanges, 14 mainline toll plazas, 74 ramp toll plazas and 335 bridges and seven named expressways. On average, more than 1 million toll transactions are recorded daily, 85 percent of them electronically. CFX operates E-PASS, the first electronic toll collection system in Florida, which supports nearly 400,000 E-PASS accounts.