The state Department of Transportation plans to spend more than $2 million erecting median barriers on two major interstates through Monroe and Carbon counties with the aim of stopping crossover crashes, PennDOT said.

The construction project should begin sometime after the new year along I-80 and I-380 in areas where there is no other physical barrier separating the opposing travel lanes, said Sean Brown, spokesman for PennDOT's Allentown-based District 5."This is going to fill in the gaps," Brown said.The state hopes that the dividers will help stop crossover crashes, which have had fatal consequences.In June 2015, three people died and more than a dozen were injured when an errant tractor-trailer crossed a grassy median on I-380 in Coolbaugh Township and collided with a chartered bus taking Italian tourists to Niagara Falls.The tractor trailer driver later said a medical condition caused him to black out, The Associated Press reported.PennDOT guidelines call for consideration of median barriers in areas where the median is 30 to 50 feet wide, which fits the description of the tour bus crash scene. At the time, state officials speculated work may begin in 2017.The types of barriers to be built will vary from concrete to high-tension cable barriers, which has been effective at preventing crossover collisions on major highways, according to PennDOT.PennDOT's District 4 spokesman Mike Taluto said cable medians have been erected in Lackawanna County, notably separating the east and westbound lanes of the Casey Highway.Distributed by The Associated Press