The work is expected to last about two weeks. Crews will begin near St. Cloud and proceed towards Willmar. The operation is expected to cover six to seven miles per day. Centerline rumble strips-a relatively new and experimental safety measure-will be installed on nearly 50 miles of Highway 23.
Work will be done during daylight hours on Mondays through Fridays. Flaggers will direct both lanes of traffic to the shoulders of the highway in the immediate work area. This will affect one- to two-mile segments of the highway at a time. Speed reductions will also be necessary.
There will be no traffic restrictions overnight.
Centerline rumble strips cut into the roadway are similar to the rumble strips ground into the outside shoulders of four-lane highways. There have been positive results with the outside shoulder rumble strips in reducing off-the-road accidents.
The centerline rumble strips are designed to alert drivers, through noise and vibration, if they are driving too close to the opposite travel lane or if they are crossing over into the other lane.
The procedure is aimed at reducing head-on crashes on high volume roads such as Highway 23.
The rumble strips are not intended to inhibit passing opportunities under appropriate conditions, but simply to alert drivers should they inadvertantly begin to wander from their own driving lane.
This project is a joint safety project between the St. Cloud and Willmar MnDOT districts.