Missouri road crews with the Department of Transportation will be laying down yellow and white stripes along major mid-Missouri highways beginning the first week of April through the Memorial Day holiday.
Central District striping coordinator Jason Sommerer says some of the major roadways that are expected to be striped include I-70, Highway 63, and Highway 54. “During that time, we’ll be having our crews operate 10 hour shifts, with multiple crews so we have the striping equipment out there seven days a week,” Sommerer said. “And we’re trying to have them all striped by Memorial Day.”
Sommerer says after Memorial Day crews will begin striping the minor roads. “And that will last through September or October,” he said. “But just this April and May, it will only be on the major roadways.”
Sommerer says crews stripe major roads annually, while the minor roads are striped every other year. He says it’s important to have the major roads striped first before the busy, summer travel season begins.
Missouri Department of Transportation urges motorists to take these precautions when driving upon a striping project:
· Stay behind the last truck in the striping train, which is placed well behind the striping truck. This will give the new paint the few minutes it needs to dry and keep you from tracking fresh paint across the lanes and damaging the new stripes. It also will prevent paint from getting onto your vehicle.
· On two-lane highways, if traffic backs up behind the striping train, MoDOT crews will pull out of the way when they can and where it is safe to do so to let congestion clear.
· On four-lane highways, pull around the striping train by merging carefully into the open lane.
· If you drive through wet paint, which is water-based, clean your car as quickly as possible with a high-powered water hose such as those used in car washes.
For more information about roadway striping or other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central. Follow the MoDOT Central Missouri District on Facebook for project updates.
AUDIO: Mary Farucci reports. (1:04)