Route 7 bridge dedicated to DOT worker killed by driver

Route 7 bridge dedicated to DOT worker killed by driver in 2005

Published 4:23 pm, Saturday, September 26, 2009

DARIEN -- Robert Mugford Sr. was the type of crew leader who earned admiration from his highway workers because of his thorough attention to the safety of his men, Gary Verbanic Sr. said.

Mugford would never just ask his less experienced workers to complete a task, but would personally show them the safest way to set up work zones on Interstate 95 or other state roads, said Verbanic, a transportation general supervisor who worked with Mugford for 12 years.

Mugford, a 58-year-old Department of Transportation employee from Stratford, was killed four years ago while placing cones during a maintenance project on a bridge over the Norwalk River on Route 7.

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"He led by example and didn't just tell you how to do it, and he'd teach you how to do it," Verbanic said. "Everything was done by the book, and he won respect."

Friday morning, members of Mugford's family joined with state DOT highway workers, union officials and others to celebrate him and dedicate the bridge over the Norwalk River in his memory.

Members of the Service Workers International Union Local 511, which represents DOT highway workers, and state Rep. Russell Morin, D-Wethersfield, presented Mugford's widow, Kathleen, and his family with a duplicate of the sign marking the bridge.

"I guess we always assume when we walk out the door that we are always going to come home to our families," said Morin, a DOT employee for 17 years. "Residents should remember when they are traveling that highway workers help keep roads safe, so their loved ones can get home."

On Aug. 5, 2005, Mugford was setting up traffic cones when he was struck by a limousine driver who had fallen asleep.

Mugford had been walking in front of a slow-moving DOT truck, setting up cones to extend a construction zone in the left lane on the connector's northbound side, according to an arrest affidavit. At the time, his death had been the first such fatality of a highway worker in 10 years.

During the ceremony, Kathleen Mugford said it was important to draw attention to her husband's death as a way to raise awareness about work zone safety, and slow down drivers.

In 2008, she and her daughter, Kimberly Sheehan, testified in Hartford to help gain passage of the Highway Work Zone Safety Act, which established the offense of endangerment of a highway worker, carrying fines of $5,000 to $10,000 and possible jail time for those found to have driven recklessly.

"The fines are stiffer because we went to Hartford to testify," Kathleen Mugford said. "Honestly, I don't think it will ever change unless people learn to slow down."

Barry Blackman, a 53-year-old worker at the Darien maintenance garage, said that impatient motorists are a constant danger as they drive through work zones.

The presence of a State Police cruiser on a site tends to deter reckless driving or behavior, including throwing trash and other objects at workers on the road, Blackman said.

"People are just crazy on I-95 if you go and take a look," Blackman said. "When they see the State Police, they think about their stupidity."

Staff Writer Martin B. Cassidy can be reached at martin.cassidy@scni.com or at 203-964-2264.