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Hazardous duty Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Road construction worker Dennis Curtis keeps his eye on passing cars Thursday as he makes his way to his truck's cab. Curtis was hit by a car but not injured while moving traffic cones Tuesday. With construction season here, motorists are urged to slow down, drive defensively By MEG LANDERS Road construction worker Dennis Curtis was hit by a car and thrown over its hood Tuesday. "It's kinda scary," said the 35-year-old Trail resident. Curtis was the victim of a hit- and-run accident at 7 a.m. on Highway 99 north of Phoenix. Fortunately, he said, only his hard hat was damaged. Workers like Curtis are out more frequently this time of year as the road construction season gets under way, and drivers are reminded to keep a watchful eye for crews in the midst of construction. "We've got construction going on all over the state," said Monte Grove, area manager for Oregon Department of Transportation for Jackson and Josephine counties. "Just pay attention," he said. Curtis was moving traffic cones as part of his work for James W. Fowler General Contractors, the company installing the Talent-Ashland-Phoenix intertie water pipe. "We were doing traffic control," he said. "Cars came right through the closure instead of being where they're supposed to be." Curtis said he saw a car coming toward him and had a moment to react. "I dropped the cones and I just put my hands down and did a cartwheel over the hood," he said. "It is kind of sickening that nobody even stopped." "We've had four wrecks out here already," said Garry McQuillan, Curtis' co-worker. The crew of about 10 started the project in January and won't finish until September. McQuillan said he thinks people are driving much faster than 30 mph, the construction zone speed. "People are just unreal," said the Phoenix man. "They're going too fast, and they're not looking at what they're doing." Grove said workers usually are focused on what they're doing, and that drivers need to slow down and drive defensively. "Look for accidents waiting to happen," he said. "Oftentimes it'll appear there isn't anything going on when there really is." Reader boards, flashing arrow boards and road construction signs haven't attracted enough people's attention on Highway 99, said Tom Pierce, project foreman. So they're putting up more signs. "We're going to add 'traffic fines double in the work zone,' " he said. Pierce has asked those who do not need access to the businesses and residences near the work zones to use Interstate 5. He admits the worst is yet to come. "A month from now, we're going to be at Fern Valley Road," said Pierce. "That's going to be difficult." Meg Landers is a free-lance writer living in Medford. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.