Police: Interstate 5 Speeders Be Aware! Saturation Patrol Set For Tuesday in Salem

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Photo By: Tim King

(SALEM) - Following "National Work Zone Awareness Week", a multi-agency saturation patrol is planned Tuesday to target a Salem-area highway construction zone on Interstate 5 in which Oregon State Police troopers have noted problems caused by speeding and inattentive drivers.

From 10:00 AM � 1:00 PM, motor officers from Oregon State Police, Salem Police Department, and Keizer Police Department will conduct the saturation patrol on a seven-mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Market Street and the Sunnyside/Turner interchange.

According to OSP Trooper Mark Davie, officers will target speeding and following too close violations because these have been contributing factors in crashes related to this work zone.

"The shoulders have been narrowed dramatically and the speed limit has been reduced to 50 mph. When we respond to a crash in this area it brings traffic to a near stop, and if it happens in the southbound lanes it almost always completely blocks the freeway until we can get the cars removed," Trooper Davie said.

ODOT is conducting a major bridge and highway construction project on Interstate 5 through southeast Salem.

The project includes widening Interstate 5 to add one travel lane in each direction, replacing six bridges and repairing a seventh.

The work zone stretches for about four miles, from south of the Santiam Highway (OR22) at Exit 253 to the Commercial Street overpass at Exit 249.

In order to minimize traffic impacts, construction lane closures will happen only at night. Construction on the project will last for 30 months, ending in June 2008.

According to a joint news release issued April 3 by ODOT regarding "National Work Zone Awareness Week":

More than 80 percent of fatalities in highway work zones are drivers and passengers, not workers.

A driver not paying attention is the biggest cause of work zone crashes.