BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. — Law enforcement agencies across the state continue to crackdown on high-speed traffic moving through West Virginia construction zones.
In recent days, law enforcement in Cabell County has put a lot of manpower in the Interstate 64 work zone between Barboursville and Huntington. The special enforcement is scheduled to continue through Thursday, West Virginia Day.
The state Department of Transportation said 105 speeding tickets were issued by police during the first day of the targeted enforcement last week. One driver was going 94 mph in the 55 mph zone.
State Police Sgt. Stuart Swope said the area is particularly dangerous because of the construction style and obstacles in the way.
“Particularly with the contra-flow lanes it makes it a particularly risky operation for those road workers,” said Swope who commands the Huntington detachment of the West Virginia State Police.
Law enforcement wrote mostly warning citations last week and tried to raise awareness of the dangers during their targeted enforcement. However, Swope said some of the activity happening is just too much to overlook.
“We clocked some of them up there in the 80s and higher. Of course 55 is the speed limit, but 70s and up is the norm,” he said. “We’re not excited to get out there and write people those hefty tickets, but some of those speeds were just too fast and unacceptable.”
Barboursville Police have a near constant presence in the work zone trying to slow the traffic. Swope expected there would be more targeted enforcement in the future since the project is still about a year away from completion.
“Those workers are right there on that wall edge. If there is a situation that would occur, the stopping distance makes it completely dangerous,” he said
State Police expected to do many more targeted patrols in trouble spots all across the state in the summer weeks ahead.