FORT WAYNE – Easier turns will soon be coming for people on the city’s west side.

Q. Why was no turn lane made on the repaved section of Illinois Road for a left turn onto Marietta Drive? Many residents driving west on Illinois turn left onto Marietta, but no middle turn lane was installed for this purpose. Yet a long turn lane was installed eastbound for a left into the Beaver Creek Falls subdivision. – Gary Noll, Fort Wayne

A. Good news, Gary, your concerns have been heard.

Dana Plattner, district traffic engineer for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said that in general turn lanes at intersections with traffic signals are longer than at intersections without them. This is because intersections with signals have more cars turning and drivers face a longer delay.

In this case, however, Plattner said many other drivers have also raised concerns about the lack of a turn lane. Because of that, the state has decided to shorten the left-turn lane at River Oak Run to better allow left-turn access onto Marietta.

Plattner said when the final striping is completed this summer, the change of lanes will be made.

Q. When going south on Interstate 69 and you get to the northbound Lima Road exit, are there two turn lanes at the top of the ramp? If memory serves me right, it used to be marked that way. – Frank Plumb

A. Well, Frank, your memory may be correct, but it is a bit dated.

Plattner said the ramp was reconfigured in 2005 to have only one lane – a configuration that has been consistent since then.

Holiday crackdown

Hoosiers driving this holiday weekend should be prepared for a heavy police presence keeping roads safe at a time they are typically more crowded.

The Indiana State Police will increase patrols across the state thanks to federal support. Last year the state reported those programs produced 1,647 citations and 825 warnings to drivers.

In addition, police agencies throughout the Midwest are conducting a multistate crackdown on drunken driving along more than 1,500 miles of Interstate 94 stretching from Michigan to Montana.

In 2008, there were 491 traffic deaths during the Independence Day holiday period. Of that total, 43 percent involved an impaired driver or motorcycle rider.

Also, the Department of Natural Resources will increase patrols on the state’s reservoirs and lakes looking for drunken boaters.

So if you are out this weekend, be safe or get a designated driver.

Coming Tuesday

Now that July is here, construction season has nearly hit the halfway point. Because there have been so many large road projects across the area this year, it seemed appropriate to provide a status report on many of them to my readers. Look for a bonus Road Sage column with updates on a dozen projects in Tuesday’s Journal Gazette.

Radio sage

This week’s bonus audio question comes from Denny Mahuren of Fort Wayne who asks about the traffic signal at Memorial Coliseum off Coliseum Boulevard. The segment originally aired Friday afternoon on WOWO and can be heard online at www.journalgazette.net/roadsage.