By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Road construction season is drawing near and the Missouri Department of Transportation wants you to be aware of those work zones.
District Maintenance and Traffic Engineer Tonya Lohman says April is when MODOT holds 'Work Zone Awareness Week' with construction normally beginning through the spring, summer, and fall.
Lohman says MoDOT wants to make sure that drivers are aware of those work zones as they are out on the road.
"A lot of people get distracted and they don't even see the signs or pay attention getting into those work zones, sometimes those lanes are narrowed to allow for all the equipment that are in there, or maybe we have a bridge lane closed because we're doing some concrete repair, or replacing something on the bridge" Lohman tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "So, we just want to make sure that people are aware of that and kind of have a focus all summer long."
MoDOT saw an unprecedented number of accidents in work zones in 2021, with drivers crashing 61 times into MoDot work vehicles.
Lohman says that with fewer drivers on the road over the last two years, officials saw motorists driving faster.
"We actually saw an increase in speed during 2020 and 2021, so fewer people were having to travel into work, those that could work from home or do remote work and were able to that reduced the amount of congestion on the roadways, so people started speeding up an going faster," Lohman explains.
Lohman says another factor that contributes to traffic crashes is drivers becoming more distracted.
From 2018 to 2021 MoDOT has seen crashes with work zone vehicles that resulted in 37 injuries and two fatalities.
With road construction season beginning soon, Lohman says there will be a couple different projects motorists see this spring, summer, and fall.
"There will be lots of paving projects and there will be bridge replacement projects," Lohman says.
Lohman says one way to be aware of where construction or road closures might be, is to download the Traveler Information map app on your phone.
"Before you head out, you know whether it's daily to go to work if you have to drive back and forth to Kansas City or Savannah, or if you're going on a trip down to Branson or Springfield, you can click and look and see what kind of construction projects there are on the route that you plan to take," Lohman explains. "It'll show whether the roads closed or if it's got lanes narrowed."
Lohman says the Traveler Information map is also useful on days with heavy rain, where roads might become flooded and have to be closed.
You can also find the Traveler Information map online HERE.