Interstate 380 segment temporarily closes for guardrail repairs

Iowa Department of Transportation officials closed a portion of Interstate 380 Tuesday night after a fatal crash in a narrow construction bypass last weekend damaged a guardrail.

Hugh Holak, resident construction engineer with the Iowa DOT's Manchester office, who is overseeing the I-380 project to replace bridge decking, said the work was related to the fatal car wreck of Rashad Carrington of Cedar Rapids.

Carrington's car struck a guardrail early Sunday near the ongoing construction.

'From the fatality accident Sunday morning, the guardrail is damaged and there are posts sticking out of the ground, broken off, all of that is a safety hazard,” Holak said Tuesday. 'Due to the tight work area, with 10-foot lanes and traffic right against the guard rail, that's the reason we're going to close it.”

The northbound lanes of I-380 between Penn Street/Johnson County Road F-28 and Johnson County Road F-12, near Shueyville, were set to be closed and late Tuesday traffic detoured.

Fatal crashes in work zones were infrequent last year in Iowa. Of 320 reported traffic fatalities last year, four occurred in work zones.

But 'the odds of potentially having a crash in a work zone are probably about the same as anywhere else, in my opinion,” said Mark Bortle, traffic safety engineer with the Iowa DOT.

Iowa already has seen four traffic fatalities in work zones - all four on interstates - so far this year, out of 115 total reported fatalities.

DOT efforts to reduce incidents focus largely on awareness and visibility by placing signs notifying motorists of impending work areas, refreshed pavement markings and reduced speed limits.

'You don't sneak up on a project without driving past at least two or three signs,” Bortle said.

I-380 signs post a 55 mph speed limit at the work zone, but enforcement is often a challenge largely due to the cost of contracting with nearby departments for police presence, Bortle said.

Bortle said the costs often entail mileage and overtime pay for the officer. Added costs aside, Bortle said availability of officers is another constant challenge.

'The problem is, there's not enough enforcement folks out there,” he said.

Throughout the project near Shueyville, I-380's work zone has maintained two northbound lanes, but those lanes, which are normally 12 feet wide, have been reduced to 10 feet each.

'Pay attention,” Holak said. 'Slow down and watch for road conditions, other traffic and obstacles.”

As work progresses on the $1.4 million project on I-380, DOT officials plan to split the northbound lanes around construction in the coming weeks. Within about six to eight weeks, both northbound lanes will be relocated to the west side of the work.

Holak said the entire project should be done by the end of July.