Posted on 05/29/2021 5:41:38 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
New York State transportation officials gathered at an Adirondack Northway rest area this morning to remind motorists of the dangers of highway work zones ahead of the busy travel holiday weekend.
The site of the press conference was the Clifton Park rest area near Exit 9 on the Northway, not far from where a southbound truck last month struck a bridge on Sitterly Road.
With a busy summer travel season predicted as the pandemic winds down, officials want to get the word out about work zone safety.
You might guess that during the pandemic, with fewer commuters on the roads, there’d be fewer accidents in work zones, but it seems like the opposite is true.
Brian Turmail, spokesman for the Associated General Contractors of America, cited results of a new survey to better understand incidents in highway work zones.
“70 percent of the contractors we surveyed told us that they’ve had at least one vehicle crash into their work zones over the last 12 months. Now that’s higher than the national average of 60 percent,” said Turmail.
The theory goes that with fewer cars on the road in the Northeast over the last year, commuters have driven faster – including through work zones.
New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez urged people to slow down.
(Excerpt) Read more at wamc.org ...
PING!
I’m gonna put New York State transportation officials down as among those who need to watch for Fracking in the Empire State.
So what else is (NOT) new? ;))
Never fails.
Well, I’d say the increase in work zone crashes is at least partially due to a big increase in road repair / construction work zones.
It is 77 miles from our place to my Mom’s. In that 77 miles (48 are Interstate) there are 6 bona fide work zones on the roads we travel (ie., not off to the side.) That 1st one is a doozy — the typical mid-day delay has been over 1/2 hour.
If we swing by Wally World to make it 80 miles, make that 7 work zones.
There are two seasons in America: winter and road construction.
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