Pennsylvania Turnpike has a new initiative called Operation Orange Squeeze.

Todd Leiss, Operations Center Duty Officer with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission explains that there is quite a bit of construction going on across the 550+ mile system and it seems that this construction and maintenance is non-stop year around.

Leiss says Operation Orange Squeeze is a work zone safety initiative that operates in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Police. The State Police--Troop T--is the Turnpike Troop and operates out of 9 stations across the system. In the past two years Leiss says two of their maintenance workers have been killed in maintenance zones and in the past month while working he says there has been one fatal accident (the driver of the striking vehicle) and one near fatal accident in the construction zones.

Leiss states that the State Police do an excellent job in enforcing traffic laws in the construction and maintenance zones but they can only be so many places; particularly with  manpower and budget restrictions.

Please visit the website for Operation Orange Squeeze at: http://www.operationorangesqueeze.com/ It is hopeful that this initiative will help save worker's lives.