HUDSON, Wis. (KMSP) -
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and the State Patrol are making changes to construction zones on Interstate 94 in St. Croix County, where crashes this summer have killed two high school students and injured several others.
Over the next couple of days, construction crews will finish the crossovers and ramps to create a temporary four-lane configuration. Those changes will be kept in place until the project finishes in 2014.
Until the four lanes are open, single lane closures will be needed during non-peak traffic times. WisDOT will be putting up additional signs to warn of potential backups in both the east and westbound lanes of I-94.
The Wisconsin State Patrol will step up enforcement in the area as well. Drivers will see additional troopers working in and near the construction zone.
"Rear-end collisions are the most frequent type of crash in a work zone," says WisDOT northwest region State Patrol Commander Jeff Frenette. "Motorists need to be prepared to slow down and stop in work zones. That means keeping your eyes on the road at all times."
The State Patrol continues to investigate the crashes that occurred on I-94 this week in St. Croix and Dunn counties.
A crash involving a semi-trailer and a car killed two high school students from New Richmond, Wis., and shut down eastbound I-94 near Hudson on July 30. The front-seat passenger, 17-year-old Josh Goodrich, and a backseat passenger, 16-year-old Jordan Johnson, were killed.
The teens were riding in an SUV that rear-ended a semi that had stopped in heavy traffic.
On July 31, a fiery crash involving two semi trucks on I-94 near Menomonie, Wis. killed a 43-year-old Minnesota man.
