In The News

Work zone safety memorial erected

BATON ROUGE, La. — Thomas Bell's brother was among the many traffic victims honored during a special ceremony Tuesday featuring a memorial made of orange highway cones dotting the front lawn of the Louisiana State Department of Transportaion headquarters building in Baton Rouge.

The department says it has erected 835 cones: one for each of the people killed nationwide in road construction work zones in 2007. Sixteen of those deaths were in Louisiana. That's the most recent year for which figures are available.

The cone memorial is in observance of Work Zone Awareness Week, to remind drivers to move safely through such areas.

Bell's brother lost his life in a work zone accident. The ceremony was the fourth annual event to pay homage to 1,079 people who have died in the zone mishaps nationwide since 2001. The department says it has erected 835 cones, or one for each of the people killed nationwide in road construction zones in 2007. Sixteen of those deaths were in Louisiana.

That's the most recent year for which figures are available.The cone memorial is in observance of Work Zone Awareness Week, to remind drivers to move safely through such areas.