MDOT urges safe driving as construction season begins

MID-MICHIGAN (WNEM) – As warmer weather moves in the Michigan Department of Transportation is preparing for spring road construction.

MDOT spoke about upcoming projects and the detours that may affect your plans.

“We’ve already had several major construction projects that have started back up for the season. We’ve got tons that start in April,” MDOT spokesperson Jocelyn Garza said.

Orange barrels are popping up like buds on trees across Michigan. Garza said construction zones will get more numerous during the next couple of months and she wants motorists to be prepared.

“These are areas where you really want to make sure that you’re checking your speed when you enter those work zones, that you’re being careful about changes in the traffic configuration, any workers that may be on the roadway near open live traffic. Things like that to make sure that everybody is staying as safe as possible,” Garza said.

It also wouldn’t be spring without a healthy dose of potholes. Garza said pothole patching crews put their lives in danger every time they’re sent out to fill a crater in the road. Unlike workers in construction zones, pothole patching crews don’t get the benefit of a large lane closure to protect them. Instead, it’s usually just a few car lengths.

“Even when I’ve been out driving, I’ve seen a pothole patching crew ahead of me and have noticed that traffic is not shifting over into an available, open lane, even when there’s plenty of room for them to do so. And those are the kind of driving practices that we don’t like to see. Because we know that those people are working far too close to live traffic,” Garza said.

That’s why Garza wants to remind everyone that people’s lives are in the balance when you’re behind the wheel.

“Every person that’s involved in some kind of infrastructure work has a family that they need to return home to at the end of the day,” she said.

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