April 24, 2026

By Lane Kimble

WEST BEND — An asphalt paver and nearby roller stood motionless on a job site Thursday morning.

In front, 18 crew members all stood silent as well, staring east at the rising sun.

For seven minutes at 7 a.m., all work stopped on Northeast Asphalt’s worksite along Highway 144 near West Bend.

One minute for each of the seven lives lost in Wisconsin’s work zone crashes last year.

“The seven deaths, that’s seven families that are ruined forever.  They’re going to be missing somebody forever,” NEA Project Manager Josh Treml told WTBA after work resumed.

The pause marked the first time WTBA and one of its members coordinated to participate in National Work Zone Awareness Week’s Moment of Silence.  That portion of the week’s programming started in 2022 to honor lives lost.

Forecasted rain for Friday scratched initial plans to match Wisconsin’s moment with ones across the country, but the NEA team didn’t mind the last-minute change.

“Anything that brings light to work zone safety and work zone awareness, we’re absolutely for it,” Treml said. “Our guys that work out here, they see the dangers every day.”

Highway 144 isn’t NEA’s biggest or busiest project. The two-lane highway is closed to through traffic, but flaggers at both ends still must allow a regular flow of local cars and trucks, many coming within feet of their colleagues.

For those seven minutes Thursday morning cars periodically passed behind the crew standing in a solitary line, some drivers glancing over in wonder. It was a silent message sent loud and clear.

“We can do everything we can but, at the end of the day, the traveling public needs to really pay attention in work zones and take the responsibility as well to keep everyone safe out there,” Treml said. “It just means a lot to all of us.”