Frank Lopez remembers the day his dad’s Colorado Department of Transportation colleagues filled a courtroom to show they were more than just work buddies.
“The courtroom was flooded with orange vests and orange shirts, the same type my dad wore,” said Lopez, 40. “It was something. They were like a big family to us and to him. That’s why he worked on the road crew. They were like family.”
Frank Lopez’s father, was repairing potholes on Interstate 25 near 84th Avenue on June 4, 2004, when a car driven by April Garcia smashed into Lopez and his co-worker, Paul Forster.
Both men died. Police discovered Garcia’s blood-alcohol level was 0.158 percent, nearly twice the legal limit for driving.
The day Garcia was sentenced in 2005, CDOT road crews streamed in the courtroom to support both families, Lopez said. Garcia was sentenced to the maximum 24 years in prison on two counts of vehicular homicide.
Lopez decided to honor his dad and his CDOT comrades Wednesday by bringing his family to CDOT headquarters to recall the other 57 road workers killed in work zones on the state’s highways.
CDOT’s annual Remembrance Day ceremony was held in conjunction with National Work Zone Awareness Week. The names of the dead are highlighted this time every year because road work is beginning in earnest and crews are especially vulnerable, officials said.
“With the highway construction season getting set to move into high gear, this is an excellent opportunity to remember our fallen workers and highlight the needs for safe driving throughout the state,” CDOT executive director Shailen Bhatt said Wednesday.
In 2013, there were 11 crashes, resulting in 14 work-zone fatalities in Colorado, according to CDOT. There were nine crashes last year, resulting in 10 fatalities.
Officials point out that most construction-zone deaths — 85 percent — involve drivers and/or their passengers, not roadside workers.
Nationally, more than 600 people are killed and 37,000 injured in work-zone crashes each year.
An average of seven motorists and one highway worker are killed in any given five-day workweek.
Frank Lopez said because of what happened to his dad, he gets nervous when he sees road crews laying asphalt on busy roadways. “I know what can happen to them, so I say a little prayer for them,” Lopez said. “I get a little scared for them and what they face every day.”
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907, mwhaley@denverpost.com or twitter.com/montewhaley
