SAN ANTONIO – Construction zones on Interstate 35 North are causing issues for drivers during the early morning commute.
San Antonio police on Wednesday responded to three crashes just north of the New Braunfels exit.
"We've got a lot of work out in that area, and that means a lot of traffic shifts or lane shifts as you go through that corridor of I-35," Texas Department Of Transportation spokesman Josh Donat said.
Three drivers were involved in three separate accidents just before 8 a.m. just north of the New Braunfels exit. One of the drivers involved in a wreck said he didn't know the left part of the highway shifted to the right and thought it was a third lane.
"I've seen four people run into it head-on," Jason Brookes, a witness, said. "It seems like this could be solved if they could just angle that wall as opposed to having it right there appear out of nowhere."
None of the drivers in Wednesday's crashes were injured.
Police said the construction zone has become a trouble spot for drivers lately. Driver involved in crashes Tuesday and Wednesday claimed that due to the blinding morning sun, they had trouble seeing the lane shift to the right.
Police responded to eight crashes in that stretch of I-35 North in the last 10 days. After each crash, TxDOT has had to replace the wrecked crash barrier.
"If a vehicle does come in and crash, they are not hitting concrete. They are hitting a barrel of water. It's a lot softer to hit. It's safer on impact and preserves lives," Donat said.
"You drive to conditions. If you have limited visibility, then you slow down. Instead, folks continue to cream through at high rates of speed, and then you have problems."
Donat said safety is very important and that the agency re-evaluates possible trouble spots along the highways after every crash.