Northern Door, get ready to rumble.
That's rumble as in highway rumble strips.
Starting this month crews will be installing retrofit rumble strips on about 550 miles of rural, two-lane state highway segments with a history of run-off-the-road crashes.
That includes about a 13-mile stretch of Highway 42 between Sturgeon Bay and Egg Harbor.
Currently, rumble strips are installed along Interstate highways and other divided highways to provide an audible and vibratory warning to motorists who drift from their travel lane. But more states are also using them on two-lane highways to try to prevent crashes. National research shows that adding shoulder rumble strips can reduce death or injury from single-vehicle highway run-off crashes by 29 percent, while center line rumbles reduce head-on and side-swipe crashes by 44 percent.
The rumble strips slated to be ground into Highway 42 will be of the centerline variety.
“Anyone who has ever momentarily drifted from an Interstate or freeway and safely returned to their travel lane may very well owe their life to a rumble strip,” says Jerry Zogg with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Bureau of Project Development. “Rumble strips are a proven, cost-effective investment offering substantial returns in reducing traffic crashes, injuries and deaths.”
Beginning in mid-August, WisDOT will oversee installation of retrofit rumble strips by grinding them into about 500 miles of centerline and about 50 miles of shoulder pavement along identified two-lane rural state highway segments. The work is expected to be completed this fall at an estimated cost of $3.5 million.
