Springtime and the Easter season traditionally usher in renewal and improvement on personal, spiritual and even practical fronts. Nowhere may that be more visible than on major highways in the Mahoning Valley in what promises to be a bustling construction season.

But with that much-anticipated renewal to our congested and potholed thoroughfares also comes the increased potential for life-threatening danger.

Even without added hazards of road-work zones, our region and state have traveled a disturbing path of spikes in traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities in recent years.

From 2017 through 2021 in Ohio, for example, annual fatalities from operating a vehicle impaired have jumped from 405 to 720; motorcycle fatalities have increased from 157 to 212; and pedestrian deaths have risen from 145 to 176.

In work zones, the news is more troubling. The Ohio State Highway Patrol reports 25,597 crashes in highway work zones in the state since 2018 with 101 fatalities, including 4,628 work-zone crashes with 23 fatalities last year alone.

Now through late fall, road hazards again will multiply as more than $50.2 million in Ohio Department of Transportation projects are slated for work in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Among the most notable ventures in Mahoning County are:

•  A $13.5 million resurfacing project on five miles of Interstate 680 from Gibson Street in Youngstown to just south of U.S. Route 224 in Boardman. Nine bridges along that heavily traveled stretch also will be repaired, but at least one lane will remain open for traffic at all times.

•  A $1.4 million project to make major improvements on and near Interstate 80-Bailey Road intersection in North Jackson. Its highlight will be construction of a new lane of traffic on Bailey Road to better accommodate increased congestion from the spate of commercial and industrial development in the Jackson-Lordstown corridor.

•  A $1.2 million project to resurface about two miles of state Route 170 (Midlothian Boulevard) between Glenwood Avenue and the I-680 interchange.

Notable projects in Trumbull County include a $19 million venture to reconstruct the busy interchange at state Routes 82 and 46 near the Eastwood Mall Complex. A “diverging diamond” interchange, touted as a boon to safety, will replace the traditional interchange. In Brookfield, a $2.4 million restricted crossing U-turn will be installed on U.S. Route 62.

To be sure, accidents will happen over the next six or seven months in and near those and other road-work zones and in areas where other vehicles sit idle on the side of the road. But responsible motorists will commit themselves to pedal safely.

Toward that end, cautious, careful and commonsensical driving must rule the road. And that’s why the Ohio Highway Patrol is continuing its “Move Over, Slow Down” campaign to remind all drivers of the basics of the Move Over law in Ohio and every other state.

The law in Ohio, enacted in 2004 and expanded in 2013, requires all drivers to move over one traffic lane whenever approaching any vehicle with flashing or rotating lights parked on the roadside or in any road construction zone. If moving over is not possible due to traffic or weather conditions, motorists should slow down and proceed with extreme caution.

Failure to do so could land drivers with a misdemeanor conviction and fines from $300 to $1,000.

It’s serious business for law enforcers. Troopers from the Highway Patrol handed out more than 44,000 citations from 2017 to 2021 in work zones, mostly for speeding. One motorist zooming along Interstate 80 in Trumbull County, for instance, was clocked at 112 mph. He was in a rush to get home to treat a stomach ache, he told a trooper.

Such rush jobs too often turn deadly. Nationwide, crashes in work zones or on the sides of roads kill one tow-truck driver every six days; 23 highway workers and one law-enforcement officer every month; and five firefighters a year, according to AAA.

Clearly, the stakes are high. That’s why all motorists should follow these vital Move Over-related tips from the state patrol:

•  Don’t speed. Obey reduced speed limits in work zones. It takes less than a minute to drive through a 2-mile work zone at 45 mph than at 65 mph.

•  Don’t tailgate. Most accidents in work zones are rear-end collisions.

•  Stay alert. Dedicate all attention to the roadway. The traffic pattern in a work zone may be shifted, and lanes may be closed. Do not use cellphones or other electronic devices.

•  Watch for orange work-zone directional signs, obey flaggers, and be aware of workers and equipment that may be moving in a lane near you.

By seriously following such sage advice, motorists can go far toward preventing a minor short-term inconvenience from morphing into a major long-term tragedy.