Interstate work stalls traffic, leads to wrecks

By By Lynette Wilson / staff witer
Jan. 1, 2003
Ongoing construction and maintenance work along heavily-traveled Interstate 20/59 led to miles of stalled traffic and several accidents last summer including a deadly pileup in June.
Two people died and another was critically injured in a 10-vehicle pileup in a work zone on I-20/59. The accident involved an 18-wheeler.
The tractor trailer apparently collided with a line of cars stalled about one mile east of the Highway 19-Bonita Lakes exit.
Local law enforcement and emergency response personnel called it the worst accident they could remember.
It was one of four accidents within a 30-day period involving 18-wheelers in work zones along I-20/59, east and west of Meridian.
The Mississippi Department of Transportation alerted motorists to road construction with orange highway signs placed miles ahead of the actual work site.
Motorists are required to reduce their speed from 70 mph to 60 mph in work zones. But motorists, MDOT said, frequently ignore the traffic signs.
MDOT officials said aggressive driving is a major contributing factor to highway accidents.