Road construction waits to ease
June 30, 2013
Traffic flow through this summer’s many construction zones statewide will improve as the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) enacts guidelines designed to alleviate long-held driver frustrations.

Wait times for projects will be shorter, and speed limits and lane closures more reasonable, as the department acts on input from drivers frustrated with the old standards.

These changes, governing speed limits and lane closures within construction zones, will benefit the increasing number of drivers using Idaho highways:

- When no workers or hazards are present, speed limits won’t be reduced. When workers and/or hazards are present, drivers are still required to slow down.
- Speed limits will not be reduced by more than 10 mph when possible, and speed reductions are limited to the immediate area affected by work, not the entire construction corridor. For example, if construction is only occurring in a one-mile stretch of a 15-mile project, the speed limit will only be reduced in that one-mile area.
- Similarly, lane closures will only be in effect near the area of work, not throughout the entire construction zone.

Project durations also will be adjusted:

- Construction time for new projects will be reduced to lessen impacts to the public. For example, the ongoing Weiser River Bridge project on U.S. 95 is a contract allowing 200 working days but no winter shutdowns, whereas the Payette River Bridge project on U.S. 95 a few years ago was allowed 420 days for construction and also winter shutdowns.

“ITD understands the frustrations drivers have when they are slowed or stopped for construction,” explained Tom Cole, ITD’s chief engineer. “We also understand the need to keep work zones as safe as possible for all.”

“Nationally, it's not only the construction workers who are at risk. Members of the public are being killed and injured - 75 percent of all fatalities and serious injuries within work zones are sustained by the public," Cole added. "We are hoping that these changes will make our work zones safer for both the worker and the user.”