80 highway workers were posthumously honored at the State Fairgrounds on Tuesday as a part of Workers Memorial Day. The combined ceremony between the State Thruway and the Department of Transportation included rows of orange hardhats and bright yellow reflective jackets bearing the nametags of those killed on the job. Thruway Director Frank Hoare remembered Vincent Giammarva and Stephen Ebling killed last year.
“But, it’s also a day that we try to and send a message to the public to pay attention to the law, slow down, use caution anytime you’re on our roads," he said. But, especially when you’re going through a workzone. Pay attention, slow down, obey the laws and remember that lives are at stake if you make the wrong decision.”
Hoare says he hopes the standing memorials of former workers will remain in driver’s memories about how dangerous work zones are. Sally Deming knows all too well. Her husband Ron tragically died nearly nine years ago while working on the Thruway the morning after a snowstorm.
“He was helping to remove a car that went over the rails. When someone didn’t move over and they hit a tow truck… and then went on to hit my husband,” she said.
Deming urges people to be careful while driving through the multitude of highway projects in Central New York. A reminder to drivers that fines are doubled in work zones. Even more important, lives are at stake. The “Highway Workers Memorial” is located at the State Fairgrounds. In 2024, the State DOT reported 322 crashes in work zones resulting in 138 injuries and two deaths.
