Work crews from the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) slowed traffic on Iowa Highway 141 in Perry Friday in order to resurface a portion of the roadway where the Raccoon River Valley Trail crosses the four-lane bypass.
The Perry work zone is one of more than 500 the DOT planned for in its 2017 budget of $680 million for road and bridge construction. Local municipalities, such as the Perry Public Works Department, also have hundreds of their own projects.
The combination of an increase in road and bridge projects and more miles logged by Iowa motorists is creating more opportunities for accidents, including work-zone accidents, according to Steve Gent, director of the DOT’s Traffic and Safety Office.
Last year saw 13 work zone fatalities, the most since 1999, according to Iowa DOT data. Iowa has seen five work-zone deaths so far this year.
