A welcome center on Interstate 77 in West Virginia has become a place to honor highway workers who have died in work zones.
The Fallen Highway Worker Memorial was unveiled October 25 by the West Virginia Division of Highways at the I-77 Williamstown Welcome Center.
The effort to create the memorial began last year after WVDOH employee Randy Bland was fatally struck while working. The project was expanded to include all highway workers in the state who died on the job. The memorial, a statue of a highway worker holding a sign that says “slow” on one side and “stop” on the other, contains the names of 49 fallen highway workers.
The WVDOH hopes the memorial will not only be a place for family and friends to remember their loved ones but also remind the public to slow down in work zones.
The welcome center is at 1325 Highland Avenue in Williamstown and is accessible via Exit 185 on I-77 north and south.