Drivers are being reminded of the importance of caution in work zones as the Van Buren County Road Commission remembers one of its own who was killed in a crash in 2023.

Commission Managing Director Bret Witkowski tells us several employees and their spouses last Friday took a trip to Claire, Michigan to visit the National Work Zone Memorial. It’s a traveling monument to those road workers who lost their lives on the job.

The employees were remembering Rene Rangel, who was killed on March 3, 2023, when a driver ignored construction signs. Witkowski says the trip is all part of the healing process.

“It’s a tough trip,” Witkowski said. “You know what you’re going to go see, and you’re not sure of how you’re going to react to seeing that name along with hundreds of other names, sadly, of people who have lost their lives doing their job. But hopefully, it helps them heal a little bit.”

Witkowski says the workers used their day off, and their own money, to take the trip. He’s reminding everyone to think of the humans behind construction projects when out and about.

“Our employees don’t deserve to be sworn at, they don’t deserve to have stuff thrown at them, they don’t deserve to be given the finger. They’re trying to do a job to help your daily life get better by improving the road and sometimes, that means you’ve got to close a road for the safety of everybody around you.”

Witkowski says no one wants to annoy drivers, but the roads do need to be maintained.

For the employees on last week’s trip, Witkowski  says “seeing not only Rene’s name, but also the names of Berrien County Road Department employee Mack Isom and MDOT Coloma Garage employee Kevin White was humbling.