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HANNIBAL, MO. -- You might start seeing more orange on the roads.

April is the official start of construction season and the Missouri Department of Transportation is kicking it off with Work Zone Safety Awareness Week.

"Safety is something we have to be conscious of all the time. The worst thing we can do is get used to what we do and forget about safety," MoDOT Maintenance Supervisor Heath Otte said.

This year you will see a lot of work on U.S. 61 through Palmyra and on West Ely and Pleasant Streets in Hannibal. There also will be a lot of resurfacing projects on smaller roads controlled by flagmen. The goal is to make those areas safer for you. All MoDOT is asking is for you to make it a safer place for them.

"The number one priority with work zones is safety. If we can get the public to obey the speed limits, it just makes it safer for the workers out there, and safer for the public," Otte says.

Across the nation, work zone fatalities are actually down for the first time in 30 years. Last year, 11 people were killed in Missouri work zones and 701 were injured. Most of the reasons for work zone crashes in 2011 were following too closely, inattention, and driving too fast for conditions. Heath Otte has worked with the Missouri Department of Transportation for more than 15 years.

"There are changing variables in the work zones, different things going on at different times just pay attention and obey the speed limit," Otte said.

Be on the look out for the MoDOT employees who do their part to help them be seen.

"These vests are reflective at night and we also have night pants and stuff when we do work at night, they're reflective to make us stand out and make us more noticeable," Otte said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation kicked off National Work Zone Awareness Week Monday in St. Louis.