California Department of Transportation

Headquarters - Public Affairs Office
David Anderson
(916) 654-5782

April 14 , 2005 

WORKERS MEMORIAL HONORS 161

For the first time in California, the National Work Zone Memorial Wall will be on display

Sacramento – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) will observe Workers Memorial Day Thursday at 2 p.m. with a ceremony remembering employees killed on the job. A total of 161 Caltrans workers have died since 1924 – most struck by reckless or inattentive drivers.

The ceremony will be held on the Capitol’s west steps. There will be a special tribute to William Calloway, a Caltrans Structural Steel Painter, who fell from the Benicia Bridge on April 7, 2004, and to Chester Hawkins, Equipment Operator II, who died when his dump truck left Highway 49 and plunged 650 feet down a ravine.

Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak of the Business Transportation and Housing Agency and Caltrans Director Will Kempton will lead the memorial service.

“Today we honor the men and women of Caltrans who have lost their lives while working for the safety of others and while serving the traveling public,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton. “We will never forget them.”

At the ceremony will be 161 orange cones shaped into a 45-foot-wide caution sign and bearing the name of each fallen worker.

For the first time, California will host a 23-foot-long National Work Zone Memorial Wall sponsored by the American Traffic Safety Services Association. It reflects the names of highway workers who have lost their lives in work zones across the nation. The Caltrans Honor Guard also will pay tribute to the fallen workers.