CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia road builders are trying to come up with a compromise in hopes of enforcing the speed limit in highway work zones.
The Contractors Association of West Virginia plans to back a bill in next year’s legislative session that would allow for speed enforcement equipment to be used.
CAWV Chief Executive Officer Jason Pizatella recently told lawmakers the bill was first introduced in 2022 and has undergone several changes. The latest proposed change is a compromise, Pizatella said.
The bill could be a step down from other states, including Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, which now has laws that allow for automated equipment to take photos of license plates of vehicles breaking work zone speed limits. The drivers are then ticketed.
Pizatella said after hearing from West Virginia lawmakers, his organization now backs a more narrow bill for West Virginia which would only allow for the equipment to be operated by a police officer and only when workers are active in the work zone. Another police officer outside the work zone would then pull the driver over.
“Blue lights flashing work,” Pizatella said. “We only wish they (police) could be out in the work zones 24/7. We just dont’ have enough of them.”
The Contractors Association of West Virginia currently works with the state Division of Highways to contract with police departments to patrol near certain work zones. He said the organization would gladly pay for more if there were more officers available.
A highway work zone flagger died in Jefferson County earlier this year after being struck while two DOH workers are recovering from injuries suffered in separate work zone accidents since March.
Pizatella said he’s hopeful a “reasonable compromise” can be reached in the 2025 session. The new measure could potentially start out as a pilot program, which Pizatella said has proved successfull in other states.