HARTFORD, CT – The leader of Connecticut’s transportation agency is urging drivers to slow down and pay attention after a state worker was killed on Interstate 95 in Fairfield on Friday morning. A driver from Derby is facing manslaughter charges.
Elvin Hernandez, 60, who was based out of the agency’s Stratford facility, had worked for the state Department of Transportation since 2010. He was hit by a vehicle near Exit 20 while doing vital maintenance work on the southbound side of the highway, officials said.
“We are heartbroken by Elvin Hernandez’s tragic death,” DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said in a statement. “Today’s tragedy is the nightmare scenario that every CTDOT employee and highway worker fears.”
Eucalitto said Hernandez was simply doing his job, and his life was cut short because of one driver’s actions.
“Sadness and anger do not fully capture how our agency feels today,” Eucalitto said, adding that the 3,300 men and women of his agency are “outraged.” “The complete disregard that some motorists continue to show our employees, first responders, and those working on the roadside is disgraceful.”
State Police have charged 60-year-old Edward Myers with second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, driving under the influence, possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) and illegal operation of a motor vehicle without an ignition device. Bond was set at $750,000 and he is due in Superior Court in Bridgeport on Monday, Sept. 28.
“As we grieve Elvin, I am demanding that every driver in the state do their part to prevent another tragedy,” Eucalitto said. “Slow down, move over, put the phone away, and pay attention. Our workers deserve to go home safely at the end of their shift, and the public must do its part to ensure that happens.”
Gov. Ned Lamont said he will order flags lowered to half-staff in coordination with the date of Hernandez’s funeral services, which have not yet been determined. Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz both said they are mourning the loss, calling it a “heartbreaking tragedy that should never have happened.”
“CTDOT workers face dangerous situations while performing their jobs because of drivers who aren’t paying attention to road conditions and speeding through work zones,” Lamont said in a statement. “I am imploring every single driver to show CTDOT and all other road maintenance workers and first responders respect and slow down whenever you see them working on our roads.”
Bysiewicz said this is a stark reminder of the immense danger the workers face each day as they work tirelessly to ensure that our highways and roadways are clean, safe, and reliable.
“We should all do more to ensure that they make it home safely,” she said. “My thoughts and prayers are with Elvin’s family, friends, and CTDOT colleagues.
Carl R. Chisem, president of CEUI Local 511, said Hernandez was more than a coworker.
“He was our brother,” he said, calling him “a proud union member.”
Chisem said the union has fought for stricter work zone speeding laws and tougher enforcement, and that the union will carry Hernandez’s name forward in this fight.
“But laws alone are not enough,” Chisem said. “Drivers have to understand what’s at stake: when you speed through a work zone, you are putting lives at risk.”
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection Commissioner Ronnell A. Higgins said his agency is “heartbroken” as its staff work alongside DOT highway crews every day.
“We stand with our partners at the Department of Transportation as they grieve one of their own,” he said in a statement. “And we ask every driver: slow down, pay attention, and move over for those working on our roads.”
Last year, a private construction worker from Waterbury was hit and killed in a work zone crash in Greenwich and officials vowed to step up enforcement. In 2024, a DOT worker was killed while working along an exit ramp on I-91 in Wallingford. A month earlier, State Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier was killed by a hit-and-run driver during a traffic stop on I-84 in Southington. A private construction worker also died in the summer of 2024 after a driver hit him with their car in a work zone on West Boulevard in Hartford.