Rumble strips removed from SR 27

State transportation crews recently filled in the center line rumble strips on State Route 27 in eastern Whitman County.

Al Gilson, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said soft ground had sunk the low parts of the strips, and that left the peaks of the strips brittle enough to break as traffic rolled over them.

State DOT crews installed rumble strips in the center of the two-lane SR 27 last year, along with rumble strips on highways 26 and 127, in an effort to reduce the number of crossover collisions on the highways. The 170-mile rumble strip project cost $568,000.

Because of the damage, DOT officials opted to remove them in advance of this summer’s chip seal program. Highway 27 will be chip sealed later this summer from Garfield to Rockford.