Drivers question safety at massive highway construction project in North Texas – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Arlington police are still investigating after a car struck two roadside barricades along I-20 near E. Loop 820 around 12:39 a.m. Wednesday, killing a man.

Police said they responded to the scene after several drivers called 911 “to report that they may have struck a person standing in the roadway.”

Officers found the remains of a man and could not immediately identify him.

On Thursday, they told NBC 5 investigators that they had the opportunity to speak with the driver involved in the accident, who gave them the name of the passenger.

The Tarrant County Coroner’s Office will confirm the victim’s identity and then notify his next of kin, a police department spokesman said.

According to police, the driver initially said he swerved to avoid a car that had pulled in in front of him. However, investigators are still working to confirm this information.

Investigators said the driver was traveling eastbound in a Buick Lucerne when he hit a road construction barrier on the left side of the highway and lost control of the car.

They said as he crossed all lanes, the passenger fell out of the car and the car crashed into a concrete barrier on the right side of the highway.

According to the police, neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing seat belts.

They said that when emergency services arrived, the driver was already out of the car. They believe he got out and was pulled out by him or a passerby.

Louis Alexander said he was on his way to his girlfriend’s house when he heard about the accident.

“I caught a glimpse of a man limping around in the middle of the highway, so I swerved. And when I swerved and looked down, there was another man standing in the road,” Alexander said.

He immediately decided to stop and help.

He said several others had already stopped as well, including a Spanish-speaking couple who called 911 and asked him to communicate for them.

Another woman, he said, ran over the victim on the street.

“She started running and asked, ‘Was that a person on the road? Was that a person on the road?'” he recalled. “She bursts into tears and says, ‘I just hit a person, I just hit a person,’ and she starts freaking out.”

Alexander said he and another man noticed the driver on the side of the road.

“We ran down to check on him and he was barely speaking. He was just moaning and groaning, just making noise. He was covered in blood, his pants were down to his ankles as if he had been hit,” he said.

Alexander said he remembered hearing other cars hitting the passenger and feeling helpless.

“As I run down, you can constantly see and hear what should have been a body – you know what I mean,” he said.

The construction site the driver hit is part of the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Southeast Connector Project, which is scheduled to be completed in mid-2028.

Many motorists expressed safety concerns about the construction in the area following the accident, but police said they currently have no evidence that the construction played a role.

Project spokesman Jay Proskovec said precautionary measures had been taken.

“You’ll notice as you drive into the project we’re reducing the speed limit to 55 miles per hour in each direction,” he said. “There are traffic devices set up in certain places, there are certain lane changes and things like that, so we want to make sure everyone is safe when driving through the project itself.”

When asked if more could be done to improve safety, such as better lighting, Proskovec said he was confident in what they were already doing.

“I think we’re doing a fantastic job and are the safest project in the metroplex,” he said.

But Alexander, who drives through the accident site at least once a day, believes that lighting would help.

“There is no light at all on this road. And especially when there are no other cars coming from either side, it is pitch black,” he said.

He said maybe people could have stopped before they hit the victim’s body.

“I think that’s the worst part,” he said.

While he processes what he has seen, he conveys his condolences to the relatives of the driver and passenger involved in the accident.

“It really shows you how fragile life really is,” Alexander said.

He said he found a certain comfort in his role.

“I should have been at the scene of the accident ten to 15 minutes ago,” said Alexander, who was supposed to leave a little earlier to get to his girlfriend’s house.

He said another Good Samaritan was also supposed to leave earlier but ended up getting home from work later.

“It’s a little more comforting to know that God put us in this position and we were essentially just playing a role,” Alexander said.