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The barrier replaces the flexible delineators that previously lined the roadway, but proved ineffective.
Flexible delineators, and the barrier that has replacing them, are designed to prevent motorists entering I-55 from Woodrow Wilson from cutting across three lanes of traffic to take the Lakeland Drive exit, which is a short distance away.
The first set of 50 delineators was installed September 21, 2004. They were installed again on November 16, January 24, 2005 and February 16, 2006. Work crews installed a new set of them when they began the repaving work on the I-55 corridor last summer.
MDOT has been looking at ways it could physically prevent motorists from cutting over to Lakeland Drive. Despite the presence of the flexible delineators, and signs posted on the Woodrow Wilson entrance ramp informing drivers to not to cross over to Lakeland Drive, some motorists have still attempted to take the exit, knocking the delineators over in the process.
After awhile, so many of the delineators will be gone that they are no longer effective and must be replaced, costing MDOT approximately $2,000 each time, according to MDOT spokeswoman Carrie Adams in a previous interview.
Work crews completed about half of the barrier earlier this month, and extended it up to the Lakeland Drive exit this past weekend.
The barrier construction is one part of the paving and construction project that has been taking place on I-55 since June.
The $31 million project is affecting both north and southbound lanes of the interstate from Pearl Street to the intersection of I-220. Work crews repaved an approximately eight-mile section of interstate and the frontage road. Crews have also been doing other barrier and guardrail work.
The contract was awarded as a joint venture between contractors APAC Mississippi and Superior Asphalt.
For more information and to search for traffic alerts related to this and other MDOT projects, visit their Web site at www.gomdot.com.
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