Highway noise strips installed for safety benefit
Beginning this month, retrofit rumble strips will be installed on over 500 miles of rural state highway segments in Wisconsin with a history of run-off-the-road crashes including a segment of U.S. Highway 12, from its intersection with U.S. Highway 67 through to Whitewater.
WisDOT has also added shoulder and centerline rumbles to State Highway 11 as part of four highway improvement projects this year that involve widening pavement shoulders.
Currently, rumble strips are installed along Interstate highways and other divided highways, providing an audible and vibratory warning to motorists who drift from their travel lane. A growing number of states are now expanding the use of rumble strips to two-lane highway segments as a cost-effective strategy to help prevent traffic 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.
“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,” said Jerry Zogg with WisDOT’s Bureau of Project Development.
“Rumble strips are a proven, cost-effective investment offering substantial returns in reducing traffic crashes, injuries and deaths,” he added.
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.
“In a typical year in Wisconsin, total economic costs associated with fatal, injury and property damage traffic crashes total around $2.5 billion,” Zogg said. “Rumble strips can help prevent crashes under any conditions, but can also guide drivers when snow, fog or rain make it a challenge to remain in the travel lane.”
More information on rumble strips can be found on the WisDOT web site at: www.dot.wisconsin.gov/safety/motorist/roaddesign/rumblestrips.
