Road Construction Ahead
Grrrr more road construction!
Do you ever get frustrated or just plain angry when you have to stop for road construction? Do you just keep driving fast when you see “road construction ahead” signs? Do you not pay attention until all of a sudden there are cars stopped ahead of you? Have you or someone you know rushed to pass the cars or trucks ahead of you as soon as you are away from the pilot car?
I have seen both sides of the road construction issue. I worked for many years as an inspector for highway construction. No, I did not work as a flagger, I made sure the rocks were crushed to a certain size and the asphalt was made to proper specifications and was put down on the road according to the highway plans.
Bad accidents!!
This past year has been particularly difficult around my hometown with several extremely bad accidents in a construction area. Two of those wrecks were due to drivers not paying attention to the construction signs warning them to slow down, flagger ahead. They also just didn’t see the cars stopped at the pilot lines. One now has to explain to a court why he didn’t stop and innocent people died and the other never made it home to his children.
The road construction crews are out there working to make our roads better and safer for us to drive on. I realize that sometimes it doesn’t seem like it when you have to wait for 30 minutes in the pilot line, or when you have to slowly follow that pilot car through all that equipment and that awful smell of asphalt oil.
Decisions decisions!
Did you know that those crews out there don’t just magically appear on the road to make your day miserable? Your roadway was falling apart and becoming dangerous and needs to be repaired. There is quite a process involved to get to the repair point.
First there is the planning of which roads need to be repaired and which sections of that road are most in need. Then comes the designing phase where engineers figure out the best plan to fix that section of the road. Does it need just a patch, or will they have to rebuild the entire section? Is that section going to remain the same width or is a new travel lane being added.
Once all the decisions are made about how to fix the road, construction companies have to bid to get the job. Then the crews start moving their equipment in so they can start the job. When you travel past and don’t see workers out there every day doesn’t mean they aren’t doing their jobs. There is so much behind the scenes work to do before your road can be reapired.
Crush those rocks
They have to have rocks crushed to a certain size and specification, they are constantly having to test the materials they made. 
They have culverts to put in and they even have to place the rocks around them a certain way.
Even when the asphalt is being put down on the road they have to follow certain regulations.
Read the signs
So before you call the road workers bad names (yes some people actually do this) remember they are doing their job and it is required that they do it a certain way so they can be paid. If you are travelling through a construction zone please pay attention to the signs, they are there to protect you and the workers on the road.
- Yellow is a warning for you that there is a change ahead.
- White with black lettering like the speed limit signs is law, you will get a ticket.
- Orange signs and cones are caution there is construction ahead be careful.
What are those lines on the road for?
- Solid white line on the edge of the road marks the shoulder of the road
- Broken white line means you can change lanes if it is safe to do so
- Solid yellow lines in the center of the road mean no passing double solid yellow lines means neither lane can pass. When you are on a two lane highway pay close attention to this, you might have a curve or a hill coming up where you can’t see oncoming traffic.
- We were all very lucky these two didn’t cause a serious accident!
Some of the signage and lines might vary for other countries so please check your local guidelines to know what they are for your area.
Don’t forget to have your vehicle kit with you so the kids don’t get cranky waiting in the pilot line. It is a good time to teach them what the signs are or what kind of equipment is on the road.
Drive safe out there so you and the construction workers all make it home to your families at the end of the day. Talk to you soon!
