MDT putting centerline rumble strips on area highways

People may experience short delays on highways in north-central Montana for the next month or two as the Great Falls Office of the Montana Department of transportation works to install centerline rumble strips on the highways.

“Centerline rumble strips are installed in both passing and non-passing zones, “Roy Peterson, MDT traffic and safety engineer, said in a press release. “They are not meant to deter safe passing of other vehicles or bicyclists, rather they are meant to alert drivers and motorcyclists that they are crossing into the centerline of the highway into the oncoming lane. That alert is a wake-up call to drivers who unintentionally cross the lane because they may be distracted, drowsy or experiencing poor visibility in severe weather conditions — all factors that can lead to severe or fatal head-on or sideswipe crashes.”

“Roadway departure crashes in Montana are not only our most common type of crash, but our most severe, often because they occur at high speeds and involve the impact of another vehicle, an object or a rollover,” Peterson added. “By implementing measures to keep vehicles on the road and in their traffic lanes, we save lives. Centerline rumble strips have proven very effective in other states in reducing fatal and severe injury crashes by keeping drivers alert and on the road.”

Work began this week on installing the strips on Montana Highway 66 south of Harlem, and on Montana Secondary Highway 234 south of Havre through Beaver Creek Park, which was expected to be completed Thursday or today.

Construction on U.S. Highway 87 between Havre and Great Falls was scheduled to start today near Havre and take about one week to complete.

Work on highways extends throughout the Great Falls Office’s region, and soon also will start on U.S. Highway 2, with the work beginning near Browning and heading east to Havre.

Lori Ward of PartnersCreative, public information representative for the project, said people could expect 10-minute to15-minute delays in construction areas.