Labor to cease on construction projects for Labor Day

Highway construction will take a holiday break this weekend to help motorists reach their Labor Day destinations and return with minimal delays. Except in special circumstances, construction activities will cease this afternoon (Friday) and will resume again on Tuesday morning.

ITD requires contractors on highway construction projects to discontinue work on any roadway open to the traveling public during the holiday, except for normal maintenance operations or work outside the travel lanes. This includes any day of a three-day holiday weekend unless otherwise permitted.

Some of those rare conditions in which work may continue are:

• If crews are not working on roadway open to the public;
  
• If the road is already closed and all traffic is using a designated detour;
  
• In an emergency situation (like flooding) where the roadway has been damaged and requires repair; or
  
• On roads with very low traffic volumes.

"The contractor, like anybody else, has very little interest in working over the holiday," said ITD Chief Engineer Tom Cole. "Most would probably take these days off, even if they were not required to keep the road open to travelers."

Published 9-3-2010