Officials with the North Dakota Highway Patrol are reminding drivers to NOT go around barricades on closed roads. Patrol Lieutenant Tom Iverson says the recent blizzard saw a number of drivers go around barricades on closed highways. And Iverson says the advisory also applies to closures not related to the weather. He says current barricade on Highway 1806 south of Mandan is a good example…
“…It’s only open to authorized traffic in that area. Those citizens that live around that area – they would be deemed ‘authorized traffic.’”
Iverson says even with a number of posted signs indicating the road closure in place, there is still a large amount of traffic trying to get through the Fort Rice area – even though the road is physically blocked…
“…Some people just want to see what exactly is going up there with the law enforcement operations dealing with the protest… see what kind of access they are able to gain. It never fails that we do get motorists throughout the day that will make their way up there and we have the remind them, “Hey, you just have to go around. Go around to Highway 6 and you can proceed south on that roadway.”
Iverson says the barricades are put in place to help protect the public. He says under state law, a motorist can be fined up to 250-dollars for driving around a barricade blocked road.