Photo: Iowa DOT
(Ames, IA) -- Drivers in Iowa may notice a few new safety techniques during this year's road work zone season. The Iowa Department of Transportation says there are a number of new strategies being tried out across the country and in Iowa to make employees more visible in work zones. Iowa DOT work zone operations engineer Brian Worrel says the Guardian Angel is a clip-on light that workers can wear. It can be programmed with different colored lighting to make workers standout to drivers.
Worrel says they were impressed with a system of sequentially lit construction barrels (Pi-lit) on I-80 near DeSoto, Iowa. He says it sort of looks like a lit runway and helps guide drivers thru a work zone.
Worrel also says they're also using wider paint lines in work zones and raised pavement markers, which are glued to the surface to help drivers. He says additional rumble strips have also been effective in work zones. He says the idea is to provide not just a visible reminder to drivers to use caution, but audible and sensory reminders too.
He says in addition, smart arrow boards are being used throughout the state, which provide the DOT with information for the Iowa 511 website.
Worrel says speed and distraction are the biggest problems when it comes to road safety hazards.