ODOT & Highway Patrol Teaming Up On Work Zone Safety

The Ohio Department of Transportation is collaborating with the Ohio State Highway Patrol to make work zones safer.

The highway patrol says enforcing traffic laws from the ground inside a work zone can be challenging, so troopers will be taking to the sky.

ODOT and the OSHP Aviation Section have identified nearly a dozen locations where troopers will target crash-causing violations like speeding, following too closely, and failure to move over.

The locations were selected due to a history of crashes, higher speeds and the type of barrier used to separate traffic from workers.

One of the work zones that will be monitored is on Interstate 75 around the Wood County/Lucas County line. Another one will be on I-75 in Allen County around mile markers 138 and 139.

There were 6,553 work zone-related crashes in Ohio last year.

Signs posted along the highway will alert drivers about the increased enforcement efforts.

The pilot project will be evaluated and based on results could be expanded next year.

The highway patrol routinely enforces speed violations from the air across the state.

Speed is measured by a pilot who times how long it takes a vehicle to pass between a series of lines painted on the roadway.

The violation time and speed information is then relayed to a trooper on the ground who makes the traffic stop.