By Lynn Corbitt

February 2025

Close your eyes and imagine that you’re driving down the interstate, only to encounter construction work that involves major lane closures. It’s frustrating, right? We’ve all been there. But what if there was a way to know if a lane was going to be closed in advance? You could look for an alternate route or be prepared to wait (you know, pull off at the exit for a quick rest stop and make sure you’ve got a crisp Diet Coke and a snack, right?). It might sound like a dream, but it is absolutely possible, and it’s something that happens for many major construction projects!

In the transportation infrastructure world, this is called MOT: maintenance of traffic. When construction projects happen that will impact traffic, the contractors and transportation departments put together a plan of how to keep traffic moving. This might mean closures and detours while work crews are fully separated from traffic, or it might mean cones and flashing lights as crews work alongside traffic, just on the other side of some barrels.

Depending on the project and the size of the impacts, there could be a website that provides up-to-date MOT information. This doesn’t include real-time construction traffic updates, but it will say if lanes, ramps or roads are going to be closed. Traffic management is an important aspect of any road construction project, as vehicles still need to make it to their destinations, even with construction underway.

Why does an MOT website matter?

Depending on the size of the project or closure, local news stations might share information about the construction work. If you watch the news at 6 a.m. but you won’t enter the construction zone until your evening commute, you might not remember what was said. Or maybe you don’t live near enough to the construction zone for your local news to cover it, so you need a different information source. Or perhaps the contractor’s work plans have changed, so there’s a somewhat last-minute closure happening.

With a dedicated place for MOT information, as long as you know the project area you’ll be driving through, you can check if construction work is planned. This can help decrease driver frustration, and it can help ease traffic impacts if people opt to take an alternate route.

Now, the MOT sites that we operate often include far more than just MOT information. These sites also provide overall road construction information on the project, why it’s happening, and what the timeline is. There’s also a way for people to provide feedback or ask questions.

Want to see some examples? Check out Driving Northern Kentucky Progress and Driving Lexington Progress.

If your project is going to impact the public, it’s best to get ahead of that. Create a place where the public can reliably go to find road work updates and see how the construction work will likely impact them. Keep it updated regularly, and watch for any questions or comments. This won’t eliminate all frustration, but it can certainly improve the public’s perception of your project and help everything run a little smoother.