Freeway Maintenance Halted in Wake of Caltrans Workers' Deaths

Caltrans will temporarily stop fixing freeway potholes and picking up litter after an employee in San Diego was killed on the job Monday, the third worker death since May.

During the statewide "safety stand down," California's transportation department will "revisit and reinforce all aspects of field safety and to ask the public for help," officials announced Monday.

The stand down will not affect the Interstate 15 Express Lanes construction project which began Saturday and lasts through the coming weekend, Caltrans spokesman for the San Diego area, Edward Cartagena, told Patch.

"Construction will continue as normal," he said.

However, routine and regularly-scheduled maintenance activities—such as litter pickup, pothole repair and weed abatement—will be stopped for a few days, though how many days is unclear, he said. 

The worker killed Monday, Richard Gonzalez, 52, of San Ysidro, was picking up litter near the northbound I-15 ramp to eastbound State Route 94 around 8:40 a.m. when he tried to walk across the freeway for unknown reasons, according to the California Highway Patrol. Gonzalez was struck by a vehicle, which tried to avoid him, and died at the scene. The 27-year-old driver was determined not to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol after a sobriety screening, and was released from custody, police said.

In a statement, Gov. Jerry Brown said, "As we cope with this tragedy, I remind all Californians to stay alert on our roadways and slow down when Caltrans workers are present."

Gonzalez had worked for Caltrans since July 2008 and leaves behind a wife and two sons, ages 12 and 22. His death comes two weeks after Jaime Obeso, 53, a Caltrans staffer from Imperial, was hit by a car on June 7  alongside I-8 in the El Centro area. On May 4, Stephen Palmer Sr., a 64-year-old landscape worker from Jamul, was struck and killed by a trolley in National City.

Less than a week before Palmer's death, Caltrans held its 21st annual Workers Memorial at the Capitol to honor the 175 workers killed on the job since the 1920s. With Gonzalez's death Monday and the two others since May, that figure rises to 178.

“Every day, highway workers put their lives in danger just by going to work,” Acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty said in a statement. “These three tragic incidents are sobering reminders that we all must do everything we can to keep our highways safe. Motorists must slow down, watch out for highway workers and safely move over a lane when passing work crews.”

Cartagena said construction crews also will receive safety information. The department has a "Slow for the Cone Zone" safety program to encourage drivers to slow down and be aware of workers in the area.

City News Service contributed to this report.