(Editorial - Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Warmer, drier weather has created challenges this fall, but it has created at least one advantage. Road construction season has been extended in the Mountain State, as the weather has not yet forced an end to paving.

Asphalt plants are still humming, and that means construction zones are still active.

“Contractors and WVDOH road crews continue to pave statewide, as well as conduct other work, as long as the weather allows,” the West Virginia Department of Transportation said in a statement Monday. “In addition to major projects like Interstate 64 widening in Cabell County, work on Interstate 79 through northcentral West Virginia, the Berkeley Springs Bypass in the eastern panhandle, and work along Interstate 470 in the northern panhandle, contractors and WVDOH repair crews are working on bridges and fixing slips all over the Mountain State.”

From Big Otter to Lick Creek Road, and many points in between, drivers cannot let down their guard when it comes to paying attention and slowing down in construction zones.

As the DOT reminds us, four workers have been struck in work zones in West Virginia in 2024. One of them was killed.

So, while this should be the case at all times, the DOT asks us to keep “Heads up; phones down!” in work zones. Obey the speed limits and other signs and keep road construction workers safe while they keep working.