West Virginia Division of Highways workers observe a moment of silence for DOH road construction worker James Harper at a news conference at the West Virginia Capitol on Monday, April 21, 2025. The event was to draw attention to Work Zone Safety Week. Harper was struck and killed by a truck in a construction zone on Interstate 64/77 on April 14, 2025.
West Virginia Division of Highways worker Randall Randolph (center, left) talks with Elliott Roseberry (center, right) of the DOH Operations Section, as West Virginia State Police Sgt. Greg Walter (left) and 1st Sgt. Eric McClung, of the State Police Traffic Records Section, listen after a news conference at the state Capitol on Monday, April 21, 2025, to draw attention to Work Zone Safety Week. Randolph, of Point Pleasant, was hit by a vehicle in a work zone on W.Va. 62 in Mason County on Jan. 18, 2025, and has undergone four surgeries after being injured in his shoulders, arms and leg.
West Virginia Secretary of Transportation Todd Rumbaugh speaks beside a sign honoring Division of Highways worker James Harper at a news conference at the West Virginia Capitol on Monday, April 21, 2025. Harper was struck and killed by a truck in a construction zone on Interstate 64/77 on April 14, 2025.
West Virginia Division of Highways workers observe a moment of silence for DOH road construction worker James Harper at a news conference at the West Virginia Capitol on Monday, April 21, 2025. The event was to draw attention to Work Zone Safety Week. Harper was struck and killed by a truck in a construction zone on Interstate 64/77 on April 14, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
“A highway work zone is just a temporary thing, but what you do there can have consequences that may last forever,†state Division of Highways employee Randall Randolph said Monday during a Work Zone Safety Week presentation at the West Virginia Capitol.
Randolph knows of where he speaks.
On Jan. 18, he was part of a DOH crew patching potholes on a Mason County road when a pickup truck sped through his work zone.
“The flagger yelled to warn me and I took off running to get off the road,†Randolph recalled. “But when the driver swerved, he hit me.â€
West Virginia Division of Highways worker Randall Randolph (center, left) talks with Elliott Roseberry (center, right) of the DOH Operations Section, as West Virginia State Police Sgt. Greg Walter (left) and 1st Sgt. Eric McClung, of the State Police Traffic Records Section, listen after a news conference at the state Capitol on Monday, April 21, 2025, to draw attention to Work Zone Safety Week. Randolph, of Point Pleasant, was hit by a vehicle in a work zone on W.Va. 62 in Mason County on Jan. 18, 2025, and has undergone four surgeries after being injured in his shoulders, arms and leg.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
Randolph suffered a broken leg, one arm broken in three places, and the other arm broken and requiring two reconstructive surgeries.
“I got lucky, by the grace of God, and lived through it,†said the Point Pleasant single parent.
West Virginia Parkways employee James Dean Harper, 24, of Bolt, Raleigh County, was not as fortunate. On April 14 on the West Virginia Turnpike near Chelyan, Harper was also filling potholes in a highway work zone when he was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer truck.
Harper’s death “is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by those who work on our state’s 38,000 miles of public roads,†said West Virginia State Police Sgt. Greg Walker.
‘We’re a brotherhood, we’re a family’
Randolph said that although he did not know Harper personally, he was deeply saddened by his death.
“Those of us who do this kind of work, we’re a brotherhood, we’re family,†he said. Randolph thanked his DOH family “for their support and their prayers†in helping him begin to recover from his ordeal.
West Virginia Secretary of Transportation Todd Rumbaugh speaks beside a sign honoring Division of Highways worker James Harper at a news conference at the West Virginia Capitol on Monday, April 21, 2025. Harper was struck and killed by a truck in a construction zone on Interstate 64/77 on April 14, 2025.
CHRIS DORST | Gazette-Mail
West Virginia Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh said there were 786 work zone accidents in the state during the past year, involving 213 injuries — seven of them fatal.
“In most cases, those accidents were avoidable by slowing down and staying alert while passing through work zones,†he said.
“We can’t wait until next April to wear orange ribbons and use cute phrases to make us think work zone safety again,†Rumbaugh said. “We need to be aware and alert all year round.â€
“Highway workers are some of the most at-risk workers in the nation,†said John Rogers, the Federal Highway Administration’s deputy director for West Virginia. To keep them safe, Rogers said, drivers “need to be ready for lane shifts and sudden stops, avoid distractions, follow directions and obey signs.â€
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