National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is an annual spring campaign held at the start of construction season to encourage safe driving through highway work zones. The 2017 NWZAW is scheduled for April 3-7 and the theme is: "Work Zone Safety is in Your Hands." A national kickoff event was hosted by the State of Maryland at a highway construction project in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. AGC of America has served on the Executive Committee of the NWZAW since its inception in 1999. AGC’s Highway and Transportation Division Chairman Donn Diederich participated in the event. AGC chapters across the country also participate in NWZAW by hosting their own events usually in cooperation with their state Department of Transportation. In addition, April 5 has been designated "Go Orange Day," and the work zone awareness committee is encouraging "all roadway safety professionals across the country . . . to wear orange to proudly show their support of work zone safety."

To gauge the impact of our work zone awareness efforts and to extend the campaign throughout the year, AGC for the past several years has surveyed the membership about their experiences with work zone intrusions. AGC uses the results as part of our public relations campaign to educate the media and driving public about the need to slow down, drive with care and stop using mobile devices while operating in highway work zones.  We plan to release the survey results and launch a public awareness campaign in the days leading up to Memorial Day and the traditional start of the summer driving season. Please take a few minutes to complete this brief survey today. The deadline to complete this survey is April 15.