PHOENIX — An employee with the Arizona Department of Transportation was killed Wednesday as he set up a traffic sign for pavement repairs along Interstate 10 south of the Phoenix area, ADOT said.
Frank Dorizio, 55, was on the right dirt shoulder near his truck when a minivan hit him, the Arizona Department of Public Safety said.
DPS said the driver of the minivan steered to avoid rear-ending the traffic in front of him and lost control.
The driver and passenger in the minivan were not injured.
Dorizio is the first ADOT worker to be hit and killed while working along a highway since 1998.
In response to the tragedy, ADOT said the overhead signs on the freeway will tell drivers to be especially alert in work zones.
Dorizio joined ADOT in 2015 as a highway operations worker in northern Arizona. He moved to the Valley in 2017 to join a maintenance unit.
In September, Dorizio joined the Incident Response Unit, which sets up traffic control, removes debris and helps stranded motorists.
“Whether or not we worked directly with Frank Dorizio, each of us at ADOT mourns his loss and honors his commitment to getting everyone safely home,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said in a statement Thursday.
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