For professional truck drivers and highway workers, there are two seasons: Winter and Construction. Here are some tips to help these workers share their workplace during the construction season:

• Alert drivers to upcoming construction at least one to two miles before the work zones begin using signs and rumble strips. This alerts drivers to an upcoming work zone and prevents last-minute mergers by giving truckers adequate time to get into the proper lane and adjust their speed.
• Be cautious when designing temporary median crossovers. Many are uneven or adversely sloped and can affect the ability of a truck to maintain its stability.
• Fix potholes promptly and temporarily pave utility trenches. Vehicles commonly stack up in the construction zone and it is difficult for truckers to react to these hazards, which can suddenly 'pop out' from under the vehicle ahead.
• Provide sufficient space outside of the travel lanes for construction equipment to operate. It is difficult for heavy trucks to quickly stop if construction equipment unexpectedly intrudes into the travel area.
• In long construction zones with no shoulders, provide adequately sized pull-off locations for breakdowns.
• Make sure your lanes are wide enough to accommodate the trucks that will travel through the work zone. Narrow lanes contribute to the off-tracking of rear truck tires into adjacent travel lanes.
• Provide and maintain barrels or concrete barricades that mark drop-offs.
• Use temporary truck detours whenever possible.
• Provide a courtesy vehicle to assist truckers with breakdowns.
• Assign one person to be responsible for the Maintenance and Protection of Traffic and have this person check traffic control devices twice a day. Provide a mechanism to allow MPOT plans to be updated to accommodate unanticipated changes in construction.
• Lend credibility to your signage by covering or removing signs when work is not in progress.
• Restrict major construction activities during peak hour commuter travel and on holiday weekends.
• Enlist the support of local trucking organizations by asking them to report poor signage or problem areas.

By minimizing construction delays to the greatest extent possible, you will help manage the aggressive driver behavior that frequently occurs in a cramped construction zone. This can also minimize zipping, which occurs when drivers cut in front of a line of traffic at the last minute and hit their brakes. This practice endangers truckers, car drivers, and highway workers, and is a frequent cause of construction zone accidents.

If you have questions on maintenance and protection of traffic during construction, contact Dennis Judson at (585) 334-1310, ext. 226 or djudson@fisherassoc.com.