Bill Text: CA ACR263 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Chaptered

California Assembly Concurrent Resolution 263 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2018-09-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 220, Statutes of 2018. [ACR263 Detail]

Download: California-2017-ACR263-Chaptered.html

Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 263

CHAPTER 220

Relative to the Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange.

[ Filed with Secretary of State September 11, 2018. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

ACR 263, Rivas. Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange.

This measure would dedicate the interchange at State Highway Route 210 and Interstate 5 in the County of Los Angeles as the Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering the cost, to erect those signs.

Fiscal Committee: YES

WHEREAS, Highway construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The risk of death is seven times higher for highway workers than for other workers, according to a study conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has lost 185 employees since 1921; and

WHEREAS, On average, 1,000 Caltrans vehicles are struck each year, and, in addition to the danger to workers, an estimated 85 to 90 percent of people who are killed in highway work zones are drivers and their passengers; and

WHEREAS, On June 10, 1926, a Powderman and a Powderman Helper, Thomas Gilbride and Jose Dominguez, were killed while placing a charge for a blast on the Coast Highway near the City of Oxnard; and

WHEREAS, On April 9, 1927, a Maintenance Foreman, Albert W. Schmuck, was killed while operating a grader; and

WHEREAS, In 1939, a Highway Maintenance Worker, Fred Pettit, was killed while working on a highway; and

WHEREAS, On March 31, 1958, a Highway Superintendent, Vaughn O. Sheff, was killed during a landslide while clearing another landslide in the Santa Monica Canyon; and

WHEREAS, In 1965, a Construction Inspector, Leroy Exum, was killed while working on a highway; and

WHEREAS, On January 16, 1968, a Caltrans Maintenance Worker, Roger Myhre, was killed by a drunk driver while working on the northbound lane of the San Diego Freeway near the City of Inglewood; and

WHEREAS, In 1970, a Construction Inspector, Thomas R. Brungardt, was killed while working on a highway; and

WHEREAS, On February 25, 1971, a Maintenance Worker, Donald Parker, was killed by a hit and run driver while working on a lane closure on State Route 91 and Interstate 5; and

WHEREAS, In 1972, a Caltrans worker, Norman Lubig, was killed while working on a highway; and

WHEREAS, In 1973, a Highway Resident Engineer, Emory Price, was killed while working on a highway; and

WHEREAS, On September 25, 1974, a Highway Engineering Technician, Claude A. Thiel, was killed by an errant driver while working with a survey crew; and

WHEREAS, On June 5, 1975, a Highway Maintenance Worker, Arthur Silva, was killed by an errant driver while picking up debris from the center median; and

WHEREAS, On July 7, 1976, a Highway Maintenance Worker, David Guillen, was killed due to electrocution caused by the branches of a tree touching overhead powerlines while he was helping cut down a tree; and

WHEREAS, On May 5, 1978, a Highway Maintenance Worker, Donald S. Beasley, was killed by a drunk driver while he was loading trash along a highway; and

WHEREAS, On May 16, 1978, a Highway Maintenance Worker, Kanika F. Burroughs, was killed by an out of control truck on State Route 57 while performing litter pickup on a highway; and

WHEREAS, On December 12, 1978, a Highway Maintenance Worker, John L. Haynes, was killed by an out of control truck while he was repairing paddle markers on northbound Interstate 405; and

WHEREAS, On June 29, 1979, an Equipment Operator, Richard A. Singleton, was killed by an errant driver while he was stopped to repair a sweeper along a highway; and

WHEREAS, On October 22, 1979, two Highway Maintenance Workers, Glen P. Fenwick and Raul Arismendez, were killed by an errant driver on the northbound lane of the Santa Ana Freeway; and

WHEREAS, On November 16, 1979, a Highway Electrician I, Samuel Ho, was killed due to electrocution while replacing a ballast for overhead lighting on eastbound State Route 134, west of the Harvey exit in the City of Glendale; and

WHEREAS, On May 29, 1980, a Highway Maintenance Leadworker, Thomas E. Davis, was killed by an errant driver on State Route 133 in the Big Bend area of Laguna Canyon Road during an asphalt concrete paving operation; and

WHEREAS, On January 26, 1981, a Highway Landscape Worker, James H. Copeland, was killed by a hit and run driver while clearing brush along the shoulder of the northbound lanes of the Golden State Freeway in the City of Glendale; and

WHEREAS, On October 5, 1981, a Maintenance Supervisor, Robbie R. Haney, was killed by being pinned under the left wheel of a truck while he was doing repairs; and

WHEREAS, On October 31, 1988, a Maintenance Supervisor II, Dennis Sparks, was killed in a traffic accident while driving to a field office; and

WHEREAS, On November 9, 1988, a Heavy Equipment Operator, Cedric Dubenion was killed in a traffic accident; and

WHEREAS, On December 12, 1988, a Maintenance Equipment Operator, Henry “Rick” Mendoza, was killed while preparing for a lane closure from northbound State Route 2 to westbound Interstate 210 when he was struck by an errant truck; and

WHEREAS, On June 12, 1992, a Landscape Worker, Jerry R. Alcala, was killed by a drunk driver while he was loading debris into a cargo truck; and

WHEREAS, On July 29, 1992, a Surveyor Supervisor, Callie Joel Buser, Jr., was killed by an errant driver while painting symbols on the shoulder of a highway; and

WHEREAS, On April 28, 1993, a Landscape Leadworker, Juan Thome, was killed by an errant driver under the influence of marijuana while working on the eastbound lanes of State Route 60, the Pomona Freeway, west of Lemon Avenue; and

WHEREAS, On January 20, 1999, a Maintenance Worker, Paul J. Chavez, was killed in a traffic accident after completing a mud jacking operation on Interstate 210; and

WHEREAS, On February 23, 2000, a Maintenance Worker, Charles F. Deming, was killed when his truck went over the embankment while he was clearing debris on State Route 39 in the Angeles National Forest; and

WHEREAS, On September 1, 2016, a Caltrans Electrician I, Jorge Lopez, was killed by an errant tractor trailer on the shoulder of State Route 14, the Antelope Valley Freeway, in the County of Los Angeles; and

WHEREAS, In addition to law enforcement and Department of California Highway Patrol officers, contracted highway workers are also at risk of death; and

WHEREAS, The latest data shows that speeding was a factor in more than 35 percent of all fatal work zone crashes, and most work zone fatalities are the result of rear-end collisions caused by driver distraction, inattention, or aggressive driving; and

WHEREAS, Caltrans has adopted a “Slow for the Cone Zone” campaign to raise public awareness and to ask motorists to be alert, slow down, allow extra following room, expect sudden stops, never drive impaired, and avoid distractions, including the use of cell phones, in highway work zones; and

WHEREAS, Fines are doubled in highway work zones and can easily total $1,000 or more for drivers who speed, drive aggressively, text, are otherwise distracted, or cause collisions in a highway work zone; and

WHEREAS, In 2013, Caltrans installed 100 permanent “Move Over” signs throughout California to support Senate Bill 240 (Chapter 175 of the Statutes of 2009), sometimes known as the “Move Over” law, which requires drivers on a freeway to move over a lane if safe to do so, or slow down, when approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle, stationary tow truck, or a stationary marked Caltrans vehicle, that is displaying flashing amber warning lights; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature desires to promote the safe operation of motor vehicles in and through all highway and freeway work zones and the use of caution and care when the motoring public sees the state work force working along the state’s highways; and

WHEREAS, The Legislature strives to promote the safety of all state employees by asking motorists who travel and commute daily in and through the state to be cognizant of those who have given their lives to provide safe, consistent mobility of travel seven days a week, 24 hours a day; and

WHEREAS, Caltrans District 7 has diligently strived to eliminate worker fatalities through training, safe practices, and implementation of features to lessen the exposure of maintenance personnel on the state’s highways; and

WHEREAS, It is therefore important that a memorial interchange in District 7 be established at a time when improvements are occurring rather than when there is a rush to announce another fatality; and

WHEREAS, A Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange should be dedicated to the men and women who have served California as transportation professionals and are deserving of recognition for making the highest sacrifice while performing their duties on the state highway system; and

WHEREAS, State highway workers in District 7 have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the state, with 33 fatalities occurring since 1921; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature dedicates the interchange at Interstate 210 and Interstate 5 in the County of Los Angeles as the Caltrans District 7 Fallen Workers Memorial Interchange; and be it further

Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system showing this special designation and the logo of the department, and upon receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs; and be it further

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for appropriate distribution.