The Massachusetts Department of Transportation launch of its fourth annual National Work Zone Awareness Week billboard design contest for Massachusetts college students. The contest is intended to raise awareness about work zone safety and encourage drivers to exercise caution when passing through active construction and maintenance projects.
“Under the Healey-Driscoll Administration, safety is a top priority for all. As we deliver critical transportation infrastructure projects, safety of the motorists and our workforce is paramount at MassDOT and the MBTA. Our employees are out on the front lines maintaining and improving the roads, bridges, transit, and infrastructure that keep our residents, communities and businesses moving and protecting them is a responsibility we all share. Through this contest, we welcome college students, our future leaders, to help us raise awareness for work zone safety and to educate drivers on the importance to follow the rules of the road for themselves, and the hardworking men and women of our maintenance and construction crews,” said Interim Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng.
Undersecretary and State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said, “At MassDOT, we put safety at the forefront of everything we do, and this contest allows us to broaden our outreach to younger drivers to help reinforce the importance of driving safely through work zones. Work zone safety is only assured if we all do our part, in our continuing efforts to remind people that ‘safe actions save lives.’”
Assistant Administrator for Traffic and Safety Neil Boudreau said, “Work Zone Safety is everyone’s responsibility if we are going to keep the men and women working to improve our infrastructure safe out on the roadway. Engaging our Massachusetts college students through this contest allows us to educate younger drivers about the importance of work zone safety and that safe actions can save lives.”
National Work Zone Awareness Week (NWZAW) is an annual campaign highlighting work zone safety with efforts aimed at preventing crashes in roadway construction areas. The 2026 theme is “Safe Actions Save Lives.” Students currently enrolled in Massachusetts colleges are invited to submit billboard designs promoting this theme; winning entries will be displayed on digital billboards along highways during the 2026 construction season.
The top three designs will receive scholarships provided by industry partners: $1,000 for first place with a three-month display; $600 for second place with a two-month display; $400 for third place with a one-month display. The submission deadline is April 17 at 5:00 p.m., with winners announced May 5 during the 2026 MassDOT Transportation Innovation Conference. Further details can be found according to the official roster page.
