With the start of spring, road construction projects are ready to begin.
This week is Work Zone Awareness Week in Indiana. The Indiana Department of Transportation is dedicated to continuously improving work zone safety and crews and motorists need to make highway work zones as safe as possible.
This year’s national theme is “Work Zone Speeding: A Costly Mistake”. Motorists can face fines up to $1,000 for speeding and up to $5,000 for driving recklessly through work zones. Fines are used to fund additional Indiana State Police work zone patrols and promote public safety.
Four out of five deaths in work zones occur when highway workers are not present. Last year, 13 motorists were killed and more than 450 people were injured in Indiana highway work zone crashes. The majority of those incidents were caused by driver inattention, speeding, following too closely, making unsafe lane changes or failing to yield to the right-of-way.
Dedicate your full attention to the roadway and avoid all distractions, including cell phones, especially while driving through work zones.
INDOT will invest nearly $800 million in highway construction projects this year to enhance safety, mobility and economic growth in Indiana. One of those projects is new road construction at multiple locations between the U.S. 20 bypass and U.S. 30. on U.S. 31 in St. Joseph and Marshall Counties.
