Several construction projects are already underway in North Dakota, and the Department of Transportation wants to encourage the traveling public to partner with them in keeping everyone safe this summer.
Matt Linneman is deputy director of engineering with NDDOT. He says this year the department is embarking on roughly 200 projects totaling $600M, which is more projects than usual. He says motorists will encounter these work zones often, which may add a few minutes to their travel time – but he says speed limits in those work zones are posted for specific reasons.
"We know that that's inconvenient to the traveling public - and we understand that. But we want everyone to make sure they're taking the time to go through these work zones, be aware, be alert. This is important work to maintain the state's investment they've put in over the years and is putting forward into the future here. We want to make sure it's helping everyone get home safe, every night."
Captain Brian Niewind with the North Dakota Highway Patrol says troopers will be doing their part this summer enforcing traffic laws in these work zones. Last year, Niewind says there were six fatalities in construction zones. And he says virtually all of them were avoidable.
"About 94, 95 percent of our crashes that occur in North Dakota are because of some sort of driving error. So we can prevent 94 to 95 percent of the crashes that occur in North Dakota if we change our driving habits."
Construction projects for the 2023 season can be found on the NDDOT website.