Road worker death sparks Kentucky Transportation push for construction zone safety

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As summer road construction season ramps up, so does the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's push to keep workers safe.

Orange cones along interstates and busy roads are markers of a dangerous time of year for road workers.

In April, Elizabethtown native Blake Barnes was doing traffic control, when police said an elderly driver that didn't see him and hit and killed the 22-year-old. The volunteer firefighter left behind 2 young children and a pregnant wife.

Chad Doyle was Barnes' supervisor. "He was a good boy. He was trying to make a living," Doyle said. "Its one of the saddest things I had to deal with. When I went to the funeral, his wife told me he looked up to me. That made it even worse."

In 2023, there were more than 1,200 crashes in Kentucky work zones and 17 people were killed. KYTC said 42 percent of those crashes involved distracted drivers.

Doyle said he sees close calls daily. "It seems like everybodys texting and driving."

KYTC spokesman Chris Jessie agrees. "Things can happen so quickly on a road."

To keep roads safe, KYTC asks drivers to slow down, leave extra following distance and watch for changing signs. Your drive to work may not be the same as your drive home.

"Paying attention to maybe the details through work zone can maybe save you time, can certainly maybe save again a crash from happening, too" Jessie said.

Reminders about distracted driving could save a life and keep a family's life from changing forever.

"We realize it's dangerous, but we didn't really think about it until something like this happens. And something like this happens, it really opens our eyes. And this could have been any one of us," Doyle said.

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