October 14, 2026

By Lane Kimble

Contractors can expect to see new safety measures added to some projects in 2027.

WisDOT plans to recommend using tools such as speed feedback trailers, temporary traffic signals, and stationing State Patrol troopers when possible on two-lane highway jobs.

The recommendations come from a season-long pilot study conducted this year that tested various flagger warning and support devices on 10 two-lane highway jobs across the state.

WisDOT reviewed more than 500 hours of video and relied on feedback from contractors through incident reports, weekly recaps, and face-to-face meetings to discover which methods worked well and which did not.

“We had a great construction season with the pilots and it’s really a credit to all of you,” Div. of Transportation System Development Administrator Rebecca Burkel said during a virtual debriefing on Monday. “We’ve really learned a lot from the input you all provided.”

Contractors particularly liked having police on-site to get drivers to slow down and pay attention and WisDOT’s preliminary data shows they were the most effective in terms of safety.

The State Patrol issued 171 citations and 240 warnings in work zones during the study. Funding and staffing for law enforcement is a challenge, though, which means WisDOT will need to use troopers wisely and cannot place them on all jobs with flagging operations.

Meanwhile, WisDOT will likely not recommend connected arrow boards and digital speed reduction trailers when it issues a final report this winter. Some were challenging to move, while others either distracted or confused drivers.

WisDOT will use its findings to generate official recommendations and update the flagger handbook this winter.

The department says it will likely make the safety measures (such as temporary traffic signals and automated flagger devices) pay items the first few years before deeming them “incidental” in future seasons, similar to how it handled portable rumble strips.

“Our intent is really to deploy some of these best practices right away in construction season 2027, so the information you’re providing is so important to us,” Burkel said.