Free Republic

After years of concern about the number of traffic accidents that occur in road construction zones, Pennsylvania is doing something about it. Beginning Jan. 4, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Turnpike will begin a 60-day pilot program to formally test what’s called the Automated Work Zone Speed Enforcement program. The program is designed to cause drivers to slow down in construction areas by setting up speed monitoring equipment in work areas. After the pilot program is finished, the two state agencies expect to deploy private contractors in white Jeep Cherokee SUVs at various sites throughout the state to...

With a flashy name and speed-tracking equipment, state police cracked down on leadfoots in PennDOT construction zones last week in western Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that state police with Troop A issued 171 citations and 70 written warnings to alleged speedsters in Indiana County as part of Operation Yellow Jacket. Under the crackdown, a trooper gauged vehicle’s speeds in a construction zone. The officer then radioed ahead to other officers, who pulled over the offending drivers. Generally speaking, speed limits are 10 mph lower in a construction zone as a safety precaution for road crews. The officers were enforcing...

NEENAH, Wis. - At the Winnebago County Highway Department, a memorial for two men is a reminder of two employees and two family members who are gone too soon. "Today it's been 12 years since he's been gone," Susan Tiffany said. Tiffany lost her brother, Dan Melhorn, on March 7, 2006. Melhorn, along with his partner and friend, Marc Neumeyer, got killed working along Interstate-41. "My sister told me and I just went, 'no, no'," Tiffany said. Tiffany said that after her brother's death, she drives extra slow through work zones. She's not alone in hoping others will follow. Local...

With winter fast approaching, one of the deadliest Kansas City road construction seasons in recent memory is coming to a close. Crews last week removed the concrete safety barriers along the Interstate 435 pavement reconstruction project in Overland Park. ItÂ’s one of several road projects that have caused major crashes, inspiring the department of transportation in Kansas to add rumble strips to the I-435 project. The first season of the two-year project is complete, and crews re-striped the highway over the weekend. The 140,000 vehicles that travel that road every day now can move along the original lanes. The $16.34...

Multiple-fatality crashes in Utah road construction zones have drawn increased scrutiny to the inherent hazards of work areas and the lackadaisical attention many drivers pay to safety warnings there. “Despite all of our work with Zero Fatalities and safety messages, people are on their cell phones talking and texting and looking at other things,” said Vic Saunders, Utah Department of Transportation Region One spokesman. “Within the confines of construction zones, with narrower lanes and barriers that make it a little bit tighter, people are wavering back and forth, and the danger is magnified for everyone.” Utah road construction zone crashes...