Congress, Individual Drivers Must Give Roadwork a Brake

Texas motorists, as elsewhere in the country, do not care much for slowing down for highway construction, as much as they might desire roadway improvements. Freeway construction that narrows lanes, or closes them off altogether, diverts traffic and slows or stops vehicle flow causes as many as 700 related deaths nationally each year. Due to increased federal highway spending – a good thing – there is likely to be more roadwork in motorists’ future, rather than less. Individual drivers must take the problem seriously, and Congress must act to reduce highway construction-related deaths even as the number and scope of roadwork projects it funds increases.