TWO TRUCKS collided this week at the southern end of Findlay’s Interstate 75 construction zone, and one of the trucks then plowed into the Lima Avenue/Hancock County 313 overpass. Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, the chief executive of Findlay’s Garner Transportation Group, is calling for state officials to post better warning signs and rumble strips for motorists as they approach the I-75 construction zone. (Photo by Randy Roberts / The Courier)
By LOU WILIN
STAFF WRITER
After some recent traffic accidents in the construction area along Interstate 75, Garner Transportation Group Chief Executive Sherri Garner Brumbaugh is calling on state officials to post better warning signs for motorists.
A photo of a crash involving two trucks made the front page of Wednesday’s Courier. Brumbaugh said when she saw the damage to the trucks in the photo, she considered it a “miracle” no one had life-threatening injuries.
In addition, the crash and its cleanup backed up traffic for miles, causing another crash risk.
None of the recent crashes on I-75 in Findlay involved Garner trucks, but Brumbaugh said she is concerned for her drivers and for the community.
“We’ve had conversation before with (the Ohio Department of Transportation) about poor signage,” Brumbaugh said. “We lived through it the past several years from here to Bowling Green and to Toledo in that construction, and we voiced our concerns then about the poor signage along that construction zone, and it didn’t get much movement done.”
Brumbaugh is taking more steps this time. Brumbaugh said she and Sheriff Mike Heldman will be meeting with state transportation and State Highway Patrol officials in a few weeks. Brumbaugh said she has at least two suggestions for transportation officials:
• Flashing signs warning of slowed or stopped traffic should be posted farther in advance of the delays, she said.
• Rumble strips, like those at the edge of the highway, should be installed on the road a half-mile before the construction site to alert motorists and get them to pay more attention, she said.
Brumbaugh said she is seeking more ideas from her truck drivers to suggest to state officials.
Warning signs are posted by the state’s contractors for the I-75 work, but it is the state’s job to communicate standards to the contractor regarding good signage, she said.
A truck and loaded trailer weigh 80,000 pounds, she said.
“It takes the length of two football fields to stop that truck” when it is traveling 55 mph, Brumbaugh said. “So trucks need space.”
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