
June 27, 2025
By Lane Kimble
WAUKESHA — Kyle Perkins doesn’t move as well as he used to.
The leg braces, cane, and ever-present pain slow him down.
“These are just the physical injuries that people, when they look at me, they see. What people don’t see is the emotional and the mental parts of the accident, how it affected me,” Perkins said.
Slowly, deliberately, and with obvious anguish, Perkins’ words filled a cavernous Waukesha County highway garage Thursday afternoon for WisDOT Southeast Region’s Work Zone Awareness event.
Perkins paused often and held back tears as he described what happened exactly one year prior.
“Many people’s lives changed, including mine,” Perkins said.
June 26, 2024, a man–who had lost his license years earlier for previous crashes due to epileptic seizures–smashed through Perkins’ work zone on Capitol Drive at Highway 164 in Pewaukee. The crash broke both of Perkins’ ankles, dislocated both knees, fractured his hip and cheekbone, and left road rash all over his body.
But he was alive.
Kyle’s friend and coworker at Arrow-Crete Construction, Priciliano Alvarez, died at the scene. “Nano,” as his friends and family called him, was 46.
“Both of these people were run over by a driver that shouldn’t have even been on the road,” Arrow-Crete Vice President Ann Neshek said. “Nano was a husband, a father, a son, brother, cousin, friend and coworker that should’ve never lost his life while just doing his job.”
The driver won’t be a threat to any other work zones for quite some time, sentenced to 25 years in prison this spring. But the constant risks remain for the thousands of men and women building and maintaining the roads we depend on, surrounded by distracted and aggressive drivers daily.
There were more than 10,000 work zone crashes killing 56 people in Wisconsin over the past five years. Ten people, including Nano and Century Traffic crew member Andrew Skupniewitz, died in 2024.
Thursday’s event was the third regional safety news conference presented by WisDOT, WTBA and industry partners this season, part of a commitment to keep construction zone safety top of mind all spring, summer, and fall. It marks the third straight year of the combined efforts.
“We all travel through work zones on our way to work, to school, to appointments,” WisDOT Assistant Deputy Secretary Joel Nilsestuen said. “Just like you, these workers all want to make it home. Every driver can make a difference.”
Kyle Perkins is slowly, methodically working his way back to the job. Future surgeries and recoveries stand in the way while the memory of Nano hangs over him like a dark cloud.
He’s determined to get there no matter how long it takes.
“This is more than just a job for me. This is how I provide for my family,” Perkins said. “In the mornings when I put my hard hat on and my vest on, we trust that the public will respect the work zones because a split second can mean the difference between life and death.”