Photo: WisDOT
Major road construction will be suspended to accommodate heavy traffic during Memorial Day weekend.
While construction will be on hold for the extended weekend, travelers still need to be alert and pay attention. During the Memorial Day weekend last year, there were five traffic fatalities in Wisconsin. On average during the last five years, eight people died in Memorial Day weekend traffic crashes, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
“You know, even though most of the lanes are going to be open, you still have to watch out for slowdowns,” says David Pabst, director of the Bureau of Transportation Safety. “Because any kind of construction barrel, whether it’s on the road or just on the side, tends to, you know, slow people down a little bit. In tailgaiting, rear-end collisions are a primary crash that we see in construction zones. So, people have to pay attention and watch their speeds when they’re going through work zones.”
Most construction in work zones will cease by noon on Friday, May 23, and will not resume until 6 a.m. on Tuesday, May 27.
“You know, whether you’re driving during the holiday or any other time,” Pabst says, “you need to watch your speed, you need to buckle up, and you need to pay attention. You gotta watch where you’re going and part of that is not following too closely. It’s just so dangerous to be less than four seconds away from somebody when you’re driving along; you can’t react in time if something happens in front of you.”
Also, the Click It or Ticket mobilization continues through June first. Pabst can’t stress enough the importance of buckling up, slowing down, staying alert, and not tail-gating.
Travelers can check online for real-time traffic information, including travel times, lane closures and incidents, at Wisconsin 511 online or by calling 511 on a phone.