More than 90,000 construction jobs per year will be created in our state, many within the greater Chicago metropolitan area, through Project Rebuild Illinois according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. The Project’s entire infrastructure capital budget involves some port improvements and railway upgrades, but by far the majority of the worksites will involve Illinois roads and bridges. Key here: a shocking 26% of our roads and 14% of our bridges failed to rate as “acceptable” resulting in Illinois’ C- infrastructure rating. Illinois is receiving $9.8 Billion in federal funds for highway development alone.
The result? Thousands of construction workers are on the job in road work zones covering hundreds of miles of roadway and related infrastructure (think bridges) today. Consider this: IDOT reported 599 distinct road construction zones as active on April 23, 2025.
Road construction work zones are very dangerous, not only for these workers, but for motorists and their passengers; truckers; motorcyclists; and pedestrians. The risks that arise from working pedestrians laboring alongside moving streams of traffic as well as heavy machinery and equipment are extreme. People are easily hurt and killed in road construction, and work zone safety must be kept paramount on every mile of Chicagoland road work zones.
Read, Dangers Everywhere for Flaggers on Chicago Road Construction Work Zones. and Workers Face Great Danger from Illinois Highway Road Work Construction Accidents.
Finding Cause for Chicagoland Road Worker Accidents
When any construction worker on the job in Illinois suffers injury in an on-the-job accident, legal protections immediately come into play. Workers’ compensation laws, for instance, provide coverage through liability insurance policies that employers are legally required to maintain. See, Workers’ Compensation and Third-Party Claims for On-the-Job Accidents.
Often, there is the temptation to finger-point to easy answers as to why the accident happened: it was the worker’s fault for being lax or inattentive; it was the weather; it was the negligent driver failing to heed warnings in the traffic path.
However, for advocates of worker victims and their loved ones, the reality is often that after a complete investigation into a serious or fatal road work zone accident, legal liability may lie with one or more design professionals who failed in their duties of care.
More than one entity, individual or company, may operate under state law or federal regulation that imposes a duty of care and safety for those on the job in a road work zone. If this duty is ignored or disrespected then the resulting breach may cause someone to be catastrophically hurt or killed on a road construction site. Read, Chicago Road Construction Worker Accidents: List of Third Parties Potentially Liable for On-the-Job Injuries.
These construction worker victims and their loved ones may have civil claims to file for personal injury or wrongful death damages based upon various state laws against entities like engineers; project managers; traffic control safety supervisors; and other professionals. Consider the following:
1. Engineers
Engineers must produce work in compliance with established engineering standard practices (e.g., AASHTO, MUTCD) or be deemed negligent and potentially liable for resulting harm. There may be civil engineers who had the contract for the road design, including traffic flow as well as things like grading or drainage.
Transportation engineers and work zone engineers, for instance, are trained in designing and planning traffic control through a road work zone. Is there evidence of failed design practices, or evidence that the work zone was not set up according to the design? If their negligence results in dangerous layouts, like risky lane shifts or hazardous signal timing; substandard traffic control device logs; or flawed temporary traffic control plans (TTCP), then workers may be hurt.
Utility engineers may cause horrific injuries to workers in a road work zone where utility relocation or exposure caused an accident. What failures pop up upon review of the utility relocation plans, or the diagrams (like poorly marked lines)? Was there proper coordination documentation with road planners or contractors?
Environmental engineers will be needed in some projects for things like stormwater drainage planning or minimizing erosion, and if their work contributes to a danger and resulting workplace accident, then their negligence may form the basis of an injury claim. What do stormwater runoff plans and site drainage diagrams reveal for the work zone?
2. Contractors
There are both general contractors and various subcontractors all involved in the coordinated road construction work. They have duties for things like keeping up safety standards at all times on the site, as well as oversight of daily operations. Are all the workers supplied with proper PPE? Is the weather changing and creating a hazard? Were there failures in daily work logs or the maintenance of traffic (MOT) compliance records? These are those with boots on the ground that have a tremendous duty to keep all road construction workers safe on the job at all times, day by day and hour by hour.
3. Architects
Architectural firms and professional, licensed architects within those firms have the job to design the blueprints and plans for road structures, like tunnels and bridges. They also must work to accepted industrial standards. What is revealed in their design approval documents and change logs? If they make a mistake, road construction workers can suffer great bodily harm from design defects.
4. Designers and Manufacturers
Signage is extremely important on all Illinois road work zones. This includes road sign layout and placement as well as visibility, done in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Confusion or mistakes in this work can result in horrific motor vehicle accidents and other struck-by incidents involving road construction workers in any Chicago area worksite. Were there sign visibility tests, and what about retroreflectivity data?
Designers and manufacturers of electronic traffic signs, powered warning flashing lights, cones, and other signals of approaching danger who breach duties of care may be liable for resulting harm on the road work zone.
Other designers and manufacturers of products involved on the Illinois road work zone may also be discovered to have legal liability after the worker victim’s investigation. These include those involved in design and building of concrete barriers; construction machinery and equipment (think defects in cranes; power tools; etc.); or any motor vehicle involved in a road work zone accident (like defective brakes or tires or steering). What do black boxes reveal from the vehicle(s) involved in the accident? Are there any applicable recalls?
5. Safety Auditors or Inspectors
Some professionals are involved in the road work zones to make sure things are safe for everyone and in accordance with laws and regulations. If they fail to do inspections; fail to inspect on a proper schedule given the risks involved; or fail to spot hazards that later cause a road work zone accident, then they may be found to have legal recompense for the worker-victim’s harm.
Personal Injury Claims for Road Work Zone Accidents in Chicago Metro Area
Road work zones in the Chicagoland area involve many things right now. There are so many of them, for one thing. And many of these Chicago road construction projects are complex both in planning and in implementation. Chicago road construction workers are on the job right now in hundreds of worksites that involve highway, road, street, bridge, tunnel, and utility work. Each comes with its own set of dangers.
Struck-by and caught-between accidents are a serious risk to Chicagoland road workers. There are also tremendous dangers of bodily harm in falls; electrical accidents; and exposures to toxins. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 77% of all fatal pedestrian accidents in work zones involved workers on the site.
An amazing number of licensed professionals are involved in keeping all these road construction workers safe every moment they are at work. They are to understand every risk each worker may face on that particular jobsite and do everything that is reasonable and prudent to keep workers safe. This includes compliance with their established industrial and professional standards of practice as well as following the guidance mandated by law and regulation, such as the MUTCD.
If a worker-victim’s investigation reveals that any of these entities breached their duty of safety and care and caused harm, then state law will provide avenues of justice to that accident victim and their family members.
For more, read:
- Protecting Workers in Chicago Road Work Construction Zones: Traffic Safety
- Trenching Dangers in Chicago Road Work Construction Projects: Rebuild Illinois in Chicagoland
- Struck By or Caught-In-Between Accidents in Road Work Zones: Chicago Construction Dangers
- Asphalt Dangers to Workers in Chicago Area Road Work Zones
- Electricity Accident Dangers for Road Work Construction Workers in Chicagoland
- Reckless Driving in Chicago Road Work Accidents.
Road construction projects are very involved, from the moment of the first design blueprint to the last removal of signage from a completed stretch of roadway. The dangers are great and the duties of care are many for our Chicago road workers. Please be careful out there!
