The state Department of Transportation is reminding drivers to slow down in construction zones, saying it is critical for the safety of both highway workers and the drivers.

T​he state DOT joined construction and labor leaders today to announce they are pushing for enhanced protections for highway workers across Long Island and New York.

AAA says there are still too many near-accidents, even with speed cameras in work zones on controlled-access highways.

DOT officials say highway workers are being harassed and assaulted by drivers on a regular basis.

Two pieces of legislation in the state budget aim to fix this.

“There’s one that talks about automated work zone speed camera and making the program permanent. The second is on worker assault, extending the provisions that already exist for transit workers, for our crossing guards, for bus drivers, extending that to highway maintenance, municipal workers, state workers, anyone working in the work zone,” says DOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez.

The DOT commissioner also announced that the reconstruction project on the Route 347 corridor will construct a bridge at Nicholls Road six years earlier than planned, starting in 2028.