The Iowa Department of Transportation has recently completed efforts to make summer construction work zones on Iowa highways safer places to travel for workers and motorists.

The DOT’s engineering division has initiated new safety equipment for work zones. Contractors, utility companies, DOT crews, city and county workers, and maintenance personnel have finished training sessions.

Fred Walker, transportation safety engineer for the engineering division, said road motorists can expect to see new equipment, such as flashing stop lights and slow paddles for flaggers, fluorescent orange Be Prepared to Stop signs, orange flags on the orange advanced warning signs, fluorescent yellow-green flagger vests, portable rumble strips and the use of additional flaggers.

The training sessions for the crews were conducted throughout February and March.

Walker said during these sessions workers were taught proper methods for controlling traffic safely and efficiently at their work sites throughout all levels of construction projects.

He said training included use of traffic control devices, uniformity and awareness of traffic flow.

The purpose of the training and research, he said, was “understanding the needs of the work zone situation.”

Research on the new equipment and on the training efforts will continue throughout the summer. The work safety project is looking at situations encountered by crews and at reducing vehicle accidents at the sites.

Rear-end collisions at flagger stations and congestion due to lane closings were two problems mentioned by Walker.

“The problems we have at work zones are unique,” Walker said. “We try to make the situation as normal and expected for the driver as possible. We try to inhibit traffic flow as little as possible.”