Roberts (WQOW) - We all know construction can be a pain, lane closures and detours can be
frustrating. But some drivers in St.
Croix County
are taking matters into their own hands, and it's something the D.O.T. says is
becoming a big problem.
"It is frustrating,
I mean I drive it every day coming here, and it can be very frustrating,"
says Dave
Koepp, the Project Engineer for the Highway 65 project.
Construction season is here to stay in St. Croix County.
"You've got about 3-4
different construction projects within about 3 miles of each other," says St.
Croix County Sheriff's Department Captain Jeff Klatt.
And it seems drivers along Highway
65 in Roberts are taking matters into their own hands.
"The general public
traveling people are moving our barricades, stealing signs, throwing signs in
the ditch, and then driving right through the construction zone, which creates
a big hazard to us and them coming through," says Koepp. "There's a lot of big
equipment moving around, those operators have large blind spots, they can't
necessarily see a small car moving right behind them, and in a closed area,
they're not expecting a car coming through."
And if you decide to drive around
those signs? It'll cost you. Big time.
"Failure to obey a
sign in a construction zone is $213.10." says Captain Klatt. "If you're moving a sign,
that's another statute, and that can be anywhere up to a $300 fine and/or up to
60 days in jail."
In fact, the St. Croix County Sheriff's
Department has already given twelve drivers tickets or warnings, within just a
few days. And Thursday, we witnessed two more drivers trying to do the same
thing.
"Most of those
detours are maybe about a mile or two out of the way. It might take them an
extra five minutes to get back into their destinations, so just follow the
detour signs," Captain Klatt says.
"It needs to get done.
All four intersections are high crash potentials and hopefully we're minimizing
that," says Koepp.
The D.O.T. and the sheriff's
department are cautioning patience.
"It's for their
safety, for our safety, it helps us get our project done, I just ask that they
bear with us for a few months until we can get everything wrapped up, and I
promise we'll get done," says Koepp.
The Highway
65 construction project is expected to be completed in November.
