BIDDEFORD, Maine (NEWS CENTER) –
Dozens of Maine Turnpike workers are remembering a colleague killed on the job.
53-year-old Jeffrey Abbott was killed in a construction zone near exit 48 on I-95 last Friday.
According to state police, Abbott was moving safety cones when a truck driven by 20 year-old Cody Craig of Turner hit two cars, swerved into a work zone and struck Abbott.
Memorial services for Abbott were held in Biddeford on Thursday at the Hope Memorial Chapel.
His co-workers at the Maine Turnpike mounted Abbott’s lobster boat onto a truck, then escorted it there earlier with snow plows.
They say Abbott loved being on the water and would often take them and his family out on the boat.
Bill Thompson, a Maine Turnpike foreman that worked with Abbott says Abbott he quickly made friends at the MTA and his and his loss is already being felt.
“He's irreplaceable, we're going to miss him,” said Thompson.. “When he came here, he slid right in, fit right in and in the short time he hasn't been here, it's been a totally different atmosphere..”
Abbott's death is the first of its kind to happen on the turnpike in decades.
An MTA worker was killed when he fell off a ladder in 2007.
However, the last time a worker was killed by a vehicle was in the 1960s and records on that are somewhat vague according to MTA spokeswoman, Erin Courtney.
Members of Abbott's work team don't want another death like his to happen.
They hope his loss pushes drivers to be more careful on the roads.
Police are still investigating the crash.
No charges were immediately filed against Craig.