If you've received a ticket on the MLK bridge recently, you're not alone. Between January 24th and June 1st, the Illinois State Police wrote over 1,947 tickets and issued over 1,000 warnings. The majority of them for speeding.

It's part of a crackdown to prevent deadly accidents on the bridge. Over the last ten years, 10 people have died. Two were killed in December of 2008.

The deaths have spurred the Illinois Department of Transportation to take a closer look at safety on the MLK and McKinley Bridges.

Those of you who drive the bridge know the lanes are narrow and the cars usually drive fast.

Today, IDOT announced crews will install a concrete barrier on the MLK bridge to prevent cross over crashes. This will reduce the number of lanes from four to three.

A cross over collision killed 26 year old Ivory Jones last year. His mother, Cynthia Edwards, believed a barrier on the bridge would save lives in the future and IDOT agrees.

Next month, IDOT plans to begin construction on a 2.5 million dollar barrier. The bridge may be closed to traffic during that time. IDOT is still finalizing details of when we can expect closures.

As for the McKinley bridge, IDOT is installing rumble strips along the center line. There do not appear to be plans for a barrier on that bridge.

What are your experiences driving the bridge? What do you think about the new plans?

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