Drivers ignoring road closures signs on Business Loop 70

The Missouri Department of Transportation urged drivers to pay attention and obey road closure signs Tuesday.

Multiple drivers ignored closure signs and went around barricades on Business Loop 70. It happened near the West Boulevard round-a-bout where the eastbound lane of the Business Loop is closed for the I-70 bridge construction project.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Columbia police are now stepping up enforcement near the closure.

Tuesday night, a trooper told ABC 17 News he was parked near the barricades for about an hour and pulled over seven drivers for ignoring the signs.

After that, officials put up another sign before the closure to try and deter people from driving down the wrong way.

ABC 17 News crews also saw multiple other vehicle go around the barricades nearly causing wrecks just yards away from construction workers.

“A lot of times, if people go head-on with one another, first place they’re gonna go out of the way of the traffic,” Emery Sapp & Sons Project Manager Josh Doerhoff said. “So they’ll get into the work zone at that point, and that’s right where our guys are standing and working. And that puts them in significant danger when a car is coming right at them.”

Crews working on the I-70 bridge project said they saw cars ignoring the signs about every 10 minutes.

“We have all the personal protective gear: hard hats, safety vests,” Doerhoff said. “And we try to make them as visible as possible, but you know most people are going to try to avoid the car. And that’s an extreme hazard both to the motorists and our workers.”

The closure on Business Loop 70 is set to last for several weeks. Law enforcement will be focusing on the area until the road is reopened.

If you need to travel east between Stadium Boulevard and the West Boulevard round-a-bout, MoDOT said drivers should go west to Stadium and then use I-70 or another city road to travel east.