Construction in the Energy City is nothing new to Estevanites, and unfortunately, neither is speeding through those construction zones.
Luckily, such cases this summer haven’t been too frequent, but it’s still a concern for city workers doing their job on the streets who have occasionally experienced close calls due to vehicles rocketing by.
“People tend to drive close to the posted speed limits, but when it comes to construction zones, they sometimes drive at the speed they’re used to,” said Estevan police Chief Paul Ladouceur.
Helen Fornwald, Estevan’s safety co-ordinator said it doesn’t take much for an accident to happen if a driver is speeding in a construction zone.
“It only takes a split second, for someone not paying attention, to sway either way,” Fornwald said. “The faster you go, the harder it is to be in control of your vehicle.”
City workers have come across some close calls while working on busy streets, she added. One such instance happened a few years ago and involved a motorist driving so close to a worker that her hard hat was tipped off her head.
Additional precautions have been emphasized over the years, and Fornwald said a lot more signage, more lane closures and a lot more directional signage has been used to give drivers a heads up and provide workers with that little bit of extra space.
Short distance construction zones within the city, where speed limits are reduced to 30 km/h, are often the problematic areas, Ladouceur noted, because some drivers coast at the normal speed limit or simply ignore the reduced ones that are posted in those areas.
“We see a lot of those scenarios, and whether it’s inadvertently or intentionally, they just don’t take that foot off the gas,” he said, adding it’s a problem that exists on the highways as well.
RCMP Cpl. Andrew Knowles said motorists caught speeding in construction zones on highways where the posted speed limit is reduced to 60 km/h, can expect fines that are three times higher than normal.
“They’re quite significant in terms of their dollar value,” Knowles said. “The other thing, of course, is the public interest to ensure workers are safe. They have families too.”
He said even if construction workers aren’t present in those work zones, people must obey those reduced speed limits.
“The faster one goes, the more you increase your error factor. In the case of some of those construction zones on the highway, there are some protruding edges that one has to look out for,” Knowles added. “You need to slow down to adapt to the construction site and pay attention to the condition of the roadway.”
According to SGI, between 2009 and 2013, Saskatchewan has had a total of six fatalities resulting from collisions in construction zones. The recent deaths of three teenage boys who died in a car crash at a road work site on Highway 6 brings the total to nine.
Ladouceur asked drivers to be particularly careful around school zones now that school is back in session.
“Children can be unpredictable, so you have to be extremely careful,” he said. “We will be monitoring those school zones closely.”
