![Light traffic shown by a traffic camera at I-480 and Warrensville Road on Sunday, April 5. [Ohio Department of Transportation]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/1fa9eee/2147483647/strip/true/crop/829x500+0+0/resize/840x506!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fimages%2Fnews%2Fnpr%2F2020%2F04%2FI480-WarrensvilleRdTraffic.png)
There have been questions about whether construction work is essential under Ohio's stay-at-home order. ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning says road construction and repair is absolutely essential.
"We keep those roadways open and we keep them in as good repair as we can. Obviously, going out patching potholes, repairing lights, repairing guardrails."
Ohioans are pretty obviously heeding the governor's orders to stay home. Bruning says traffic levels dropped by nearly half the first week of the stay-at-home order. Bruning says that's helped the road work.
"There's a lot of work that traditionally we only allow our crews to do overnight because when they impact traffic, the impacts are less. Because the traffic volumes have been down so dramatically we have changed some of the rules, relaxed some of those restrictions and allowed some of that traditionally overnight work to happen during the day."
Bruning says closing lanes in the daytime and at night could mean some projects get finished ahead of schedule. "It allows us to do more work, and probably be a little safer during daytime. We're more visible obviously in the daytime. It's been a benefit to everybody involved."
Statistics from the Ohio Department of Transportation show a decrease in traffic numbers, compared to a year ago. [Ohio Department of Transportation]
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