A 10066: Directs the department of transportation to conduct a comprehensive study of highway construction and maintenance worker safety; directs the department to gather feedback from stakeholders; requires the department to submit a report on its findings and recommendations.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10066  IN ASSEMBLY January 30, 2026 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. MAGNARELLI -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT in relation to establishing a comprehensive study examining high- way safety standards and necessary worker protection improvements The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Road construction workers face increased safety risks. 2 According to the United States department of transportation, aging high- 3 way and road infrastructure requires work on roads that are more heavily 4 utilized. This requires more work during high volume traffic times and 5 creates more congestion and more safety considerations for highway work- 6 ers. 7 New York state has been a leader in worker safety, however the New 8 York state department of transportation data reveals that there were 9 over 670 work zone intrusions, 171 worker injuries in work zones, and 10 two worker fatalities in work zones in the years 2024 and 2025 combined. 11 § 2. The commissioner of transportation shall enter into a contract 12 with a third-party entity to conduct a comprehensive study of worker 13 safety on highway road projects. The contracted entity shall gather and 14 consider feedback from a broad range of stake-holders, including but not 15 limited to the New York state department of transportation, road 16 contractors, road-construction unions, roadway workers, project adminis- 17 trators, municipal officials, and roadway contractor associations. The 18 contracted entity shall hold at least three public hearings across the 19 state to gather input from such stakeholders. 20 § 3. The results, findings, and recommendations of the study shall be 21 for study purposes only and shall not be considered binding upon the 22 executive or the legislature in any manner. 23 § 4. The study shall evaluate each component of the current road safe- 24 ty laws and regulations and other relevant factors, including but not 25 limited to: 26 (a) whether the current road safety regulatory framework adequately 27 protect road construction workers; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD14552-01-6 
 A. 10066 2 1 (b) best practices in the road construction industry, including meth- 2 ods used in other states or countries; 3 (c) data driven analysis models to improve worker protection in road- 4 way construction; and 5 (d) anticipated costs associated with implementing new road safety 6 rules and regulations reviewed as part of the study. 7 Such study shall identify the industry-best practices that could be 8 implemented to enhance road worker safety throughout New York. 9 § 5. No later than one year after the effective date of this act, the 10 contracted entity shall submit a report of its findings and recom- 11 mendations to the governor, the temporary president of the senate, the 12 minority leader of the senate, the speaker of the assembly, the minority 13 leader of the assembly, and the commissioner of transportation. The 14 report shall also be published on the contracted entity's public website 15 and disseminated. 16 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.