MDOT construction: Traffic hits brakes on Highway 82 – Here’s why
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Construction on Highway 82 has raised a popular question among drivers and passengers alike over the past few days: why can’t the work be done at night?
The answer is threefold but it begins with safety.
“Working at night, there’s a greater chance of worker injury. There’s a greater chance of injury to those that are traveling the road because at night time. We’re using a type of asphalt mix that requires greater temperatures to put down. A lot of times the cost is much greater to do nighttime work. This project already — because of the safety aspect we’ve added to it, because of the amount of asphalt we’re using– the project cost was already pretty high. And we thought adding additional cost would of adding night work would drive that cost a lot higher,” said Matt Dunn, MDOT Engineer.
And what do you do when those two lanes become one?
The common way to merge is to wait until the last minute.
Dunn said that may not be the route you want to take.
“When you see road work ahead one mile, left lane closed, right lane closed, start thinking about starting to get over. Start thinking about ‘okay do I have a gap I can start moving over? Especially in the area we had yesterday with the congestion, it’s in an area between Main Street and the Waterway Bridge. There’s so much traffic trying to merge at one time. So all the traffic was condensed down to one lane,” said Dunn.
Dunn said if drivers can exercise patience for just a little bit longer, the smooth ride ahead will be worth the wait.
“It’ll be a long time before we come back and do some work on US 82. So if they can bear with us, let’s get this project completed. It may cause some heartache a little bit and some delays, try to leave a little earlier. Again everyone with be very pleased with what we’re gonna have for them hopefully by the end of the summer,” said Dunn.
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