{"id":195835,"date":"2025-08-13T21:08:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T02:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=195835"},"modified":"2025-08-13T21:08:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T02:08:34","slug":"caution-urged-in-turnpike-work-zones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/08\/13\/caution-urged-in-turnpike-work-zones\/","title":{"rendered":"Caution urged in Turnpike work zones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEREA — As summer begins to wind down and families head out on their final trips before back-to-school season, the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are teaming up to prioritize safety and reduce work zone crashes along the 241 mile-long toll road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an increase in traffic comes a greater risk of crashes, and far too many of these crashes occur in work zones. In 2025 thus far, there were 252 crashes in Ohio Turnpike works zones, many of which were preventable.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Commission understands that time is valuable for its customers, but construction zones often require a reduction in the normal speed limit due to reduced lane widths, traffic shifts, and reduced or eliminated shoulders,\u201d said Ferzan M. Ahmed, P.E., executive director of the Commission. \u201cTo keep motorists moving, all work zones on the Ohio Turnpike have at least two lanes open during day travel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help prevent crashes, troopers will continue to focus efforts on speeding and crash-causing violations that occur within work zones. This effort includes using both ground and air resources to monitor traffic. Patrol statistics show this is a necessary step as so far this year troopers have issued 1,666 citations in turnpike work zones. Of these citations, 56 percent were for 20 miles-per-hour or more over the speed limit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA single traffic violation in a work zone \u2013 such as speeding or distracted driving \u2013 can have serious consequences, said Sergeant Ryan E. Purpura, Patrol spokesperson. \u201cNot only can it result in double fines, but more importantly, it can result in the loss of life or leave someone seriously injured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple, responsible driving behaviors, such as obeying the speed limit, paying attention to work zone signage, maintaining a safe following distance, and eliminating distractions, can go a long way in protecting not only motorists but also the men and women working just feet from traffic to repair and maintain our roadways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission Ohio State Highway Patrol It\u2019s important to remember that not all work zones are protected by concrete barrier walls. In many cases, only barrels or cones separate roadway workers from vehicles traveling at highway speeds. This limited protection makes it even more critical for drivers to stay focused and cautious at all times while traveling through work zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current Ohio Turnpike construction and traffic conditions can be found here and work zonerelated crash and statistical information are available on the Patrol\u2019s Ohio Statistics and Analytics for Traffic Safety (OSTATS) Work Zone Dashboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The motoring public is encouraged to wear seat belts and safely call #677 to report reckless or impaired drivers and drug activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent staff\/submitted information BEREA — As summer begins to wind down and families head out on their final trips before back-to-school season, the Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are teaming up to prioritize safety and reduce work zone crashes along the 241 mile-long toll road. With an increase […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 15:07:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195836,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195835\/revisions\/195836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}