(Juneau) The Dodge County Sheriff’s Office recent law of the month covers road construction and their signs. Sheriff Dale Schmidt says if you must travel into an area currently under construction, make sure to have a purpose on that roadway in the shortest amount of time.
“It’s a road closed sign for a reason, the road is closed, you can’t drive on it,” says Schmidt. “Our guys are writing citations; we’re not writing warnings anymore.”
The sheriff says that if motorists do go around those signs and have no business in being on the road, they can expect to be stopped.
Most of the road closed signs state access is only granted to local or business-related traffic. This means that people who do not live on that closed road or are not accessing a business on that closed road are not allowed to have access or even be on that closed road.
Schmidt says drivers can minimize their use of roads in work zones by using side roads that intersect close to their destination. He notes that roads that have barricades on them, making the road not accessible, should not be accessed by anyone unless given permission by a law enforcement officer.
Violation of this state law can cost someone a $175 fine and three demerit points. A second offense within one year is $213 as well as three demerit points. If workers are present when the violation occurs, the costs increase to $213 and three points for a first offense and $288 and three points for the second offense within one year.
If law enforcement catches anyone moving Road Closed signs or barricades, they could be issued a $326 citation.
