‘Trying to catch people’s attention;’ Rumble strips added to portion of SR 41 in Clark Co.

CLARK COUNTY — Ohio Department of Transportation crews cut rumble strips into State Route 41 in Clark County on Monday.

News Center 7′s Taylor Robertson talked to ODOT about how they make our roads safer.

ODOT crews spent their morning adding the rumble strips to the center line for five miles down SR-41.

“The start of this is up at North Hampton,” said Matt Bruning, ODOT press secretary. “It’s a five-mile stretch that takes us to Miller Road.”

This comes after a Northwestern Local School bus was hit by a driver who crossed the center line. The five-mile stretch includes the Northwestern Local School District.

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“One of the parents who had a child on the bus at the time did talk to a township trustee who then reached out to us. My understanding is that parents had seen those rumble strips on another road,” Bruning said. “Once the governor heard, was very interested in making sure we could do it and if we could do it, that we did. Governor DeWine has been very focused on safety, traffic safety since he took office.”

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ODOT did an engineering analysis to make sure the pavement could handle the rumble striping.

“The reason we were able to get it turned around so quickly is we already have this company on contract doing striping elsewhere in the state,” Brunin said.

Bruning said it costs them about $2,000 to strip one mile of road.

“What those rumble strips will do is vibrate your car to alert you that you’re leaving your lane,” Bruning said.

This is an addition to the rumble strips on the edge of the road.

“Obviously we are trying to catch people’s attention,” Bruning said.

Bruning said federal data shows anywhere from about a 40 to 60 percent reduction in left-of-center crashes where these rumble stripes are used.

“It’s not 100 percent reduction, but it certainly does make a difference,” Bruning said.

Bruning said crews will have the five-mile stretch finished up by the end of Monday.

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