A dangerous portion of Alabama’s I-20 is about to get round-the-clock patrols in an effort to reduce traffic related injuries and deaths.
A 22-mile section east of Birmingham in St. Clair county has been the site of 461 traffic accidents last year in which six people died and 182 were injured, according to the Birmingham News.
The Alabama Department of Transportation will provide more than $350,000 in federal funds to the Department of Public Safety, which will enable them to have at least one state trooper along the route 24 hours a day. Currently, due to underfunding and understaffing, there are many hours of the day in which the section of I-20 is not patrolled.
Local residents have complained about the high number of traffic accidents along the interstate, which in some places has steep hills. Accidents often back up traffic for miles along the highway, which connects Birmingham with Atlanta.
State officials say they also plan to begin work this spring to build median barriers to prevent head-on collisions along the route.
A 22-mile section east of Birmingham in St. Clair county has been the site of 461 traffic accidents last year in which six people died and 182 were injured, according to the Birmingham News.
The Alabama Department of Transportation will provide more than $350,000 in federal funds to the Department of Public Safety, which will enable them to have at least one state trooper along the route 24 hours a day. Currently, due to underfunding and understaffing, there are many hours of the day in which the section of I-20 is not patrolled.
Local residents have complained about the high number of traffic accidents along the interstate, which in some places has steep hills. Accidents often back up traffic for miles along the highway, which connects Birmingham with Atlanta.
State officials say they also plan to begin work this spring to build median barriers to prevent head-on collisions along the route.
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