Drivers Warned About Suffield Roadwork

SUFFIELD, CT — Drivers are being asked to use caution as state crews work on a safety project along Mountain Road.

The Suffield Police Department said CTDOT crews are grinding out centerline markings on Mountain Road so centerline rumble strips can be installed. Police said the work is taking place from the center of town out toward North and South Stone streets.

CTDOT’s construction advisory lists the Suffield work as Route 168 from South Stone Street to Route 75, also known as North Main Street. The project is part of a larger CTDOT centerline rumble strip installation effort on several routes in northwest Connecticut, according to the agency.

The state project is scheduled to run from April 1 through Sept. 15. CTDOT said lane closures may occur from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., with flaggers and traffic-control signs guiding drivers through work zones.

No work will be performed on holidays, according to CTDOT. The work is being performed by Safety Markings, according to the state advisory.

Police said the centerline markings are being ground out before the rumble strips are installed. The roadway lines will be repainted as soon as possible, police said.

Centerline rumble strips are grooves within the double yellow centerline that create noise and vibration when a vehicle’s tires cross over them, according to CTDOT. The warning is meant to alert drivers that they have left their lane and give them a chance to correct course.

CTDOT says about 30 deaths and 2,000 injuries occur each year in Connecticut from head-on and opposite-direction sideswipe crashes. Those crashes happen when a vehicle crosses over the centerline and hits a vehicle traveling the other way, according to CTDOT.

The Federal Highway Administration has identified centerline rumble strips as a proven safety countermeasure for head-on and opposite-direction sideswipe crashes, according to CTDOT. A national study cited by CTDOT found fatal and injury head-on and opposite-direction sideswipe crashes were reduced by an average of 64 percent in urban areas and 44 percent in rural areas.

The Federal Highway Administration says longitudinal rumble strips are meant to alert distracted, drowsy or otherwise inattentive drivers who drift out of their lane.

Suffield’s Public Works Department lists Mountain Road among state roads and directs state-road issues to CTDOT.

Police asked drivers to watch for crews working at night and to travel carefully through the area.