Busy year for Iowa road construction nears end with 'way too many' deaths in work zones

One of the busiest years ever for Iowa highway construction is wrapping up with 10 people killed in work zone crashes, although overall traffic fatalities statewide are trending downward, according to state officials.

As Iowa motorists begin to hit the road for Thanksgiving, the Iowa Department of Transportation is nearing the end of a 2017 construction season that included work on $680 million worth of projects. That's just shy of last year's record-breaking $695 million spent on road projects.

The 10 deaths in work zone accidents in 2017 includes three road construction workers, and it's the second consecutive year with above average fatalities. Last year, 13 people died in work zone crashes, including one road construction worker. Iowa has averaged 655 work zone accidents annually over the past decade and 6.8 fatalities per year.

DOT officials said the problem behind the higher number of work zone fatalities the past two years is that a combination of more road and bridge projects, along with more miles driven by motorists, is providing additional opportunities for crashes. Speeding and distracted driving — including texting behind the wheel — are contributing factors.

"Ten deaths in work zones is way too many, and it is a terrible number," said Steve Gent, director of the DOT's traffic and safety office in Ames. "This is one of the areas that we continue to work on, not only on the primary highway system, but on county and city road systems."

Nationally, AAA projects 50.9 million Americans will journey 50 miles or more away from home this Thanksgiving. The 2017 holiday weekend will see the most Thanksgiving travelers since 2005, with 1.6 million more people taking to the nation’s roads, skies, rails and waterways compared with last year, the organization says.

Eighty-nine percent of holiday travelers will be driving, and they will be paying the highest Thanksgiving gasoline prices since 2014, said Gail Weinholzer, a Minnesota-Iowa AAA spokeswoman. She attributed the gas price increase to strong demand and higher oil prices, but added that current fuel costs won't deter family trips.

Downward trend in overall traffic deaths

One positive trend this Thanksgiving week is that the number of statewide traffic deaths in Iowa appears heading down in 2017 from last year, when 402 fatalities were reported for the entire year.

As of Monday, Iowa's 2017 traffic death count totaled 295, which was 55 fewer fatalities than the same date a year ago. Iowa appears to be on pace for 350 to 360 traffic deaths for the entire year, according to Iowa DOT officials.

In one work zone accident in August, 37-year-old Kevin Bright of Omaha died on U.S. 30 near Woodbine in western Iowa when his van crashed into the back of a semi-trailer truck that was waiting for a pilot car in a construction area. In April, Jacklyn Ferguson, 54, an employee of Hawkeye Paving, was killed in Davenport when a maintenance truck backed onto eastbound I-80 and was struck by a semi-trailer truck.

In June, construction flagger Barbarella Moore, 48, of Waterloo, was struck by passing vehicle on Lucas County Road S45 near Chariton as she prepared to flag cars and truck while another construction worker was cutting concrete. She was pronounced dead at the scene, which had been marked with signs warning drivers of road construction.

DOT officials have been working to combat work zone crashes with extra enforcement by state troopers and DOT officers, plus other safety measures. These include a high-tech initiative in selected areas that combines the use of electronic speed sensors, traffic sensors, and electronic message boards to warn motorists of problems ahead.

Motorists caught speeding in Iowa work zones face enhanced fines of up to $1,000 per incident.

Nearly $600 million in road work

DOT officials say Iowa's highway construction program has been bolstered this year by mostly favorable working conditions and extra projects generated by revenue from a 10-cent per gallon increase in the state's fuel tax. Through Oct. 31, a total of $593 million in DOT road work had been accomplished statewide. Some work is still underway, but most projects will be shutting down soon with the arrival of snow and cold weather.

"In my opinion, things have gone very well because it was dry throughout most of the state this summer," said Mark Bortle, a DOT traffic safety engineer. "We didn't have issues with rain that we typically have in Iowa, although when rains did come, they came fairly heavy in southeast Iowa."

The list of road and bridge projects that will continue through the winter months includes urban interstate reconstruction in Council Bluffs and Sioux City, as well as construction of a new "flyover" ramp at the busy interchange of I-35 and U.S. 30 in Ames. Another major project that won't shut down involves construction of a new I-74 bridge over the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities.

Patrick Hoye, chief of the Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, said the overall trend in traffic fatalities is down in several categories in 2017, including fewer people killed in motorcycle crashes and a slight decline in alcohol-related fatalities.

The Iowa Legislature's passage of a tougher state law prohibiting texting while driving is a positive move that should contribute to curbing traffic crashes, Hoye said. Through Oct. 31, state troopers had issued 495 citations for texting while driving, up from a total of 174 citations for all of 2016.

"We believe distracted driving has certainly played a part in crashes and the new law certainly helps," Hoye said. "Not only are enforcement numbers up, but there was a public awareness campaign that accompanied the new law and a lot of people have been talking about the dangers of texting and driving. I think it is modifying peoples' behavior."

Iowa's new anti-texting law, which took effect July 1, allows law officers to issue a citation if they simply observe a motorist texting while driving, even if there is no other violation. Under previous law, motorists could be ticketed for texting only if they committed another traffic offense, such as speeding or running a red light.

The new law also prohibits motorists from web browsing and playing electronic games. But drivers can still make phone calls and use global positioning systems for navigation. Law officers have reported the new law is still difficult to enforce, but public safety officials say it represents a positive step forward over the old statute.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, text messaging while driving creates a crash risk 23 times higher than driving while not distracted. The Governors Highway Safety Association says 47 states ban text messaging by all drivers and 15 states prohibit all drivers from using hand-held cellphones.

Hoye said the Legislature's passage of a "24/7" sobriety law should also help curb traffic fatalities. The legislation, which is in the process of being implemented, will require drivers arrested or convicted of being impaired while behind the wheel in Iowa to participate in a twice-daily sobriety monitoring program. Similar programs are already in place in South Dakota and four other states.

Road condition information

Dial 511 in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wisconsin. If calling from out of state or from a phone system not participating in the 511 program, dial 800-288-1047 or go to www.511ia.org

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