August 15, 2024
By Lane Kimble
APPLETON, Wis. — Just a few lines away from finishing his prepared remarks, Nate Swanke paused and gestured to his left.
You could see his eyes well up ever so slightly, but his cadence was the true giveaway of his emotions.
This message was personal.
“To many, we’re just flashes of orange and yellow that they can’t wait to put in their rearview mirror and forget. But to Taylor and Saige I’m a husband and a father,” Swanke said, his words catching in his throat a bit, as his wife and 10-month-old baby girl approached the podium.
“And while you or the thousands of people who drive by me every day may never see me again, Taylor and Saige expect to see me walk through the door every night.”
Safe to say there were a few additional misty eyes in the audience.
That was the kind of empathy Swanke hoped to deliver during his brief statement Thursday at WisDOT Northeast Region’s Work Zone Awareness news conference.
The Michels Road & Stone Project Manager wanted attendees and the public to understand the important role they play in work zone safety alongside construction crews.
“Imagine working in a place where it’s not a matter of if but when someone is going to crash into it,” Swanke said. “It’s like a ticking time bomb.”
Work zone crashes, like the several Swanke, State Patrol, and an Outagamie County Sheriff’s Captain mentioned, are what WisDOT, WTBA, and its contractor partners hope to prevent. In 2023, there were more than 2,100 crashes in Wisconsin work zones causing hundreds of injuries. WisDOT recorded more than 10,000 crashes in the last five years.
Nine people died in 2023’s crashes.
“You think about the workers behind these cones and barrels. What are they thinking about that?” WisDOT Division of Transportation System Development Administrator Rebecca Burkel said. “We all need to remember the people behind those barrels as well… It’s really our duty to protect each and every one of you.
“We’re in this together and we each have a role in keeping our projects and our people safe. Every time we get behind the wheel, we have to recommit to safety. Every time.”
Thursday’s news conference at the I-41 Project Field Office in Appleton was the fifth of six safety events WisDOT is holding throughout the construction season this year. The Department, along with WTBA, industry partners, and law enforcement aim to keep work zone awareness top of mind all throughout 2024.
Police are doing their part. State Patrol Lt. Luke Newman says troopers have issued more than 12,000 warnings and citations for speeding in the Northeast Region, including more than 200 alone in work zones.
“Slow down, pay attention, put the phone down and buckle up,” Swanke said. “If not for me, then for my family. And the thousands of men and women just like me who love what they do and the people they’re working for.”
