Driving down the highway you see the familiar orange sign with a worker on it. Do you slow down immediately? Maintain your speed until you see workers? How fast should you be going and when can you speed back up again?
When construction season begins this spring, Saskatchewan motorists will see improved signage in highway work zones, ensuring that the speed limits are "black and white".
"We're making it 'black and white' for drivers," Highways and Infrastructure Minister Don McMorris said. "With the introduction of the new signage, all drivers need to do is follow the signs for the safety of our workers and for their own safety, so we can prevent future tragedies."
When a driver first encounters the highway work zone, they will see an orange sign with a black image of a worker on it and a tab that identifies "Workers Present." This will be followed by a black and white speed sign of 60 km/h. At this point the driver must legally slow to 60 km/h, no exceptions. The black and white sign is a regulatory speed sign, like all speed signs across the country, indicating the legal maximum speed.
A driver will be advised they are approaching the end of the work zone by a sign that says "End of Work Area" followed by another "black and- white" regulatory sign that indicates the driver can resume the posted maximum speed limit.
The new signage is one of many measures that are being taken to clear up confusion and keep workers and drivers safe in work zones.
There will also be heavier fines for drivers caught speeding in the work zone. Previously, fines started at $140 and increased by $2 to $4 for every km/h over the speed limit. Now, the base fine will be $210 and will increase by $3 for every kilometre over the speed limit, up to a speed of 90 km/h and $6 for every kilometre over 90 km/h. For a driver who speeds through a work zone at 100 km/h, this would result in a fine of $450 plus a victim surcharge of $80 for a total of $530.
Rumble strips and gates that alert the driver they are entering a work zone are also being added. These were implemented last fall and will be placed on major construction projects on the province's busiest highways. The devices are intended to improve driver awareness and attention in work zones.
Photo radar will be implemented in some work zones later this year.
"We need these new signing measures, plus education and enforcement, to make a real change in driving behaviour in the work zone," McMorris said.
"Motorists need to know that speeding in work zones is a very serious offence."? ?The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has been working with SGI, the Ministry of Justice, the RCMP, and the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association during the winter to improve each of these measures.
