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CATHERINE E. SHOICHETInvestigators say alcohol may have played a role in the crash at a Curlew Road work site.
DUNEDIN - A road worker was seriously injured Wednesday night when a car struck him at a Curlew Road construction site, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.
While he was setting up barricades in Curlew Road's center lane around 9 p.m., Randall Williams, 21, was struck by a 1994 Mercury Sable heading west, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Goodman said.
The driver of the car was Frank Schiano, 56, of Clearwater.
Williams, of Land O'Lakes, was walking toward the north side of the road when he was hit by the right front and right front windshield of the car, Goodman said. The car was traveling about 35 mph.
Rescue workers flew Williams to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he was listed in critical condition Thursday.
Detectives closed portions of Curlew Road for several hours Wednesday night while they investigated.
Goodman said investigators think the accident was alcohol-related. Investigators were awaiting blood-alcohol test results on Schiano.
Schiano did not return a call from the Times Thursday afternoon.
No charges have been filed, Goodman said.
Goodman said accidents involving road construction workers are rare in Pinellas County.
"We don't see that many that I know of," he said. "They're usually pretty cautious out there."
Williams is an employee of Purcell Construction, a contractor hired by the Florida Department of Transportation to widen and resurface portions of Curlew Road between Alt. U.S. 19 and Fisher Road.
As part of the state's $8.4-million project, crews will construct a divided four-lane road with raised medians and left-turn lanes between County Road 1 and Fisher Road, which is just west of U.S. 19.
They also will resurface the road between Alt. U.S. 19 and County Road 1, build new sidewalks and improve drainage along the road.
The project is scheduled to be completed in spring 2006.
DOT spokeswoman Kris Carson said all contractors hired by the state must undergo extensive training to learn how to set up detours and traffic barricades as safely as possible.
"Work zones are dangerous places," she said. "That's why we ask motorists to be aware of the situations when they're driving through work zones and slow down... This is a horrible situation."
The combination of passing drivers, construction vehicles and heavy equipment places road construction workers at risk on a daily basis.
More than 100 workers are killed and more than 20,000 are injured in the highway and street construction industry each year, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
Times researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this story. Catherine E. Shoichet can be reached at 727 771-4303 or cshoichet@sptimes.com