State Police Increases Patrols on Foxborough Highways

State police will be paying extra attention to Route 495 and 95 in the near future.

Recently, The Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced the continuation of the new Highway Safety Corridor Program for highways through the greater Foxboro area.

The program posts public safety signs that read, “Highway Safety Corridor / Laws Strictly Enforced” at eight locations through the corridor. In partnership with the State Police, additional patrols will be on hand to enforce speed limits, reduce aggressive driving and prevent distracted driving.

This corridor has been selected because of the incidence of speeding and for driving-related crashes involving injuries and fatalities. The shared goal of the State Police and MassDOT is to drastically reduce the number of crashes and to encourage motorists to drive safely and observe the posted speed limit.

The program uses radar technology to calculate the average rate of speed through segments of I-495, and I-95 and will be used to deploy State Police patrols during times where the data show vehicle speeds above the posted limit.

The announcement comes on the heels of three publicized incidents on Foxborough highways. Last week, public safety crews responded to a rollover involving a tractor trailer at the 495/95 interchange and on Sunday, a vehicle registered to former New England Brandon Spikes was found abandoned on Route 495 near a reported hit and run.

The enforcement program is a $201,000 effort funded through the Highway Safety Improvement Program as a strategy to curb speeding and other moving violations under the Massachusetts Strategic Highway Safety Plan. The program includes the purchase of the eight Variable Message Boards with radar. The data collected from the radar will be used to measure the reduction of average vehicle speeds because of the additional State Police patrols. In the future, the equipment will be deployed along other portions of state highway to establish additional Highway Safety Corridor campaign.