The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department says it issued nine tickets to drivers who ignored a construction zone in Pine Grove Township on Thursday.
Van Buren County Road Commission Director Bret Witkowski tells us crews were repaving County Road 388 between 26th Street and 29th Street when they had to deal with drivers behaving badly.
“Our employees radioed in that it was getting bad,” Witkowski said. “People were yelling obscenities, going around, ignoring them. So, we contacted Sheriff Abbott and his department, and within five minutes, they had people out there. They ended up writing nine or ten tickets, not counting warnings, for people ignoring Road Closed signs.”
Witkowski says people who live in the affected area could still pass through, but other drivers were simply ignoring the signs and putting road crews in danger.
“It’s not that we’re trying to make life difficult. We’re trying to get a job done correctly, and to keep our employees safe.”
Witkowski says the sheriff’s department had to stay in the area for the entire day to make drivers behave.
Van Buren County Sheriff Dan Abbott says his office will continue to enforce code violations in construction zones and violators will be cited.
Witkowski asks drivers to keep in mind construction zones contain workers whose lives could be at risk due to passing traffic.
