City: Slow Down When Driving in Work Zones

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KLIX) – Slow down and pay attention!

That’s the message from the city of Twin Falls to drivers when passing through work zones on roadways. Consistently, work crews see it happen: some drivers just don’t pay attention or obey the construction signs, putting themselves, other drivers and workmen at risk.

“It happens every day,” said the city’s Robert Bohling. “People are on their cellphones or putting on makeup and not paying attention.”

Some places and times of day are worse than others.

Addison Avenue, Blue Lakes Boulevard and Shoshone Street are the roads that see the most problems because they’re the main arteries into and out of the city, he said. Whenever construction is done on these roads there seems to be more incidences of inattentive driving.

About 7 a.m., between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and between 4 and 6 p.m. are usually the peak traffic times, he said – the times when more people seem to be in a hurry.

One construction zone that recently has seen a lot of inattentive drivers is Second Avenue, Bohling said, where crews are replacing a gas line. The road has narrowed to two lanes instead of three.

“Anytime there’s a narrowing of lanes it congests traffic,” Bohling said. “It seems like more people are in a hurry to get where they’re going anymore and not paying attention.”

There’ve been several incidences that have jeopardized the safety of workmen because of drivers going too fast through zones, said city spokesman Joshua Palmer. Inattentive driving also puts the driver, passengers and other drivers at risk of injury or worse.

Bohling said the city is looking into developing a campaign to further highlight the risks of inattentive driving in town. But the simple solution is to slow down, get off your cellphones, and pay attention.