As construction picks up throughout the region, law enforcement and transportation officials urge Grand Forks motorists to drive carefully when entering work zones.
Wade Swenson, operations director for the North Dakota Department of Transportation, advised drivers to slow down through work zones during a press conference at Town Square on Wednesday. He also asked motorists to not drive distracted and to treat highway workers with respect.
“We’re doing all of this work to enhance our system,” Swenson said. “We want you all to travel and enjoy our state, but also know patience is needed.”
In 2018, the state had three work zone fatalities, Swenson said.
“Our hope this year is we need to get that to zero,” he said.
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Swenson also introduced some new technology that NDDOT and contractors will be using in work zones throughout the state. Electronic message boards will “let the traveling public know there’s a stopped condition or speeds are reduced,” Swenson said.
Large projects this year for the Grand Forks region include a reconstruction of Highway 2 in Devils Lake and a $2 million turn lane project on the Gateway Drive and North 55th Street intersection in Grand Forks, along with the DeMers Avenue and South Columbia Road on and off ramps.
“And obviously, the backdrop of where we are today, in Grand Forks, is the DeMers Avenue project,” Swenson said, referring to a roughly $9.9 million reconstruction of DeMers Avenue downtown from North Sixth Street to the Sorlie Bridge.
Russ Hanson with the Associated General Contractors of North Dakota, a trade association representing contractors, said the group working on DeMers Avenue, Strata Corp., is one of his members.
He called Swenson’s tips for safer driving “common sense.”
“No amount of protective equipment can protect a highway workers if they’re struck by a vehicle in a highway work zone,” he said.
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