Ohio Considers Adding More Highway Cable Barriers

Ohio has cable barriers along 300 miles of highways, and it’s considering adding more.

The cables are cheaper and less damaging than guardrails and concrete barriers used to block cars from crossing over medians and into oncoming traffic.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the state started using the cables nearly a decade ago along highways with medians up to 59 feet wide. Now engineers with the Ohio Department of Transportation are set to review the possibility of adding cables to another 136 miles of busy state highways and interstates with slightly wider medians.

It costs about $95,000 per mile to install the cables. A department spokesman says the state will use crash data to determine which areas are hazardous enough to justify the cost.