By Staff
July 3, 2002
The Fourth of July driving period is as good a time as any to remind motorists that interstate construction projects will likely delay traffic in the Meridian area. For the sake of public safety, not to mention the safety of highway workers, please, slow down and drive responsibly.
Work is currently under way on two projects along I-20/59. One is a $10.3 million project from the Alabama line to the Highway 19 exit and the other is a $10.1 million project from the 65th Avenue exit to Newton County. Within the past two months, four separate accidents have ground traffic to a standstill near those ongoing road construction sites. And the latest accident, on June 20, killed two and critically injured another in a 10-car pileup near the construction east of the city.
Engineers with the Mississippi Department of Transportation and the crews working on these projects certainly deserve special consideration because they are trying to make necessary improvements. The crews already do their jobs under dangerous conditions involving heavy machinery, hot asphalt and unwieldy steel beams, and they work in a busy, high-speed corridor.
Every driver be they in a passenger vehicle or an 18-wheeler needs to heed posted notices in highway work zones. Remaining alert, using common courtesy and slowing down are good driving habits to use in these areas.