By this point in the year, we’ve all seen the orange barrels and more importantly the road workers out on the Beltline and other areas around the city. To help protect those workers, Governor Walker has declared the week of March 23-27 as Work Zone Awareness Week in Wisconsin. In 2014 more than 2,200 crashes happened in work zones in Wisconsin, resulting in 832 injuries and 12 deaths.
In 2015 the Department of Transportation has scheduled 350 state highway and bridge improvement projects. Driving through work-zones often involves lane shifts, narrow and/or uneven lanes and reduced speeds. Stay alert to the possibility of slowing traffic and the presence of workers when approaching work zones. Patience and caution are both key to navigating those zones.