These 61 Barrels Aren’t Random in Washington State – Here’s the Story Behind Them

If you see 61 Barrels in a field from the Washington State Department of Transportation, it's not your imagination, as these barrels have a deep meaning that you should know about.

The Reason Behind WSDOT’s 61 Barrels Will Make You Slow Down

Every year, the first of April marks the start of  WSDOT's month-long Work Zone Safety Awareness Month campaign.

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This Display of 61 Barrels Has a Message Every Driver Needs to Hear

In a posting from the WSDOT, the 61 barrels are a memorial honoring the 61 WSDOT employees who have been killed on the job since 1950, one barrel for each life lost.

The WSDOT will be sharing stories of these brave workers and reminding drivers to take care when traveling on our Washington State highways.

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Throughout April, WSDOT will share stories these stories on Facebook from their frontline crews, take you behind the scenes for a look at what it's like to work inside a work zone, and post ongoing reminders to slow down and pay attention.

It’s not just road crews at risk in work zones: Nearly 94% of people injured in work zone crashes are drivers, their passengers, or nearby pedestrians.

This statistic highlights the significant danger that work zones pose not only to those working on the roads but also to the general public.

You can see this memorial on the Capitol campus in Olympia the entire month of April.