NIGHT MAINTENANCE ON DETROIT FREEWAYS

THE RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF THE FREEWAY NETWORK HAS CREATED MAINTENANCE PROBLEMS, PARTICULARLY IN METROPOLITAN AREAS WHERE IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO PERFORM THE MAINTENANCE FUNCTION WITHOUT SERIOUS INTERRUPTION TO THE TRAFFIC FLOW. IN VIEW OF THIS THE MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE HIGHWAYS AUTHORIZED THE FORMATION OF A COMMITTEE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF COMPLETE CLOSURES FOR PORTIONS OF THE DETROIT FREEWAY SYSTEM IN ORDER TO PERFORM MORE DIFFICULT MAINTENANCE OPERATIONS UNDER 'NO TRAFFIC' CONDITIONS. THIS ARTICLE REPORTS ON THREE COMPLETE NIGHTTIME CLOSURES WHICH HAVE TAKEN PLACE ON SECTIONS OF DETROIT FREEWAYS. FROM THESE EXPERIMENTS OF NIGHTTIME MAINTENANCE AND TOTAL CLOSURES IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT THIS TYPE OF MAINTENANCE OPERATION IS NOT ONLY FEASIBLE BUT IS DEFINITELY MORE ECONOMICAL THAN TRYING TO DO THE WORK UNDER NORMAL TRAFFIC CONDITIONS. THE EASE AND CONTROL OF PERFORMANCE MOBILITY UNDER CONDITIONS OF TOTAL CLOSURE GENERALLY ASSURES MORE SATISFACTORY RESULTS THAN COULD BE OTHERWISE OBTAINED. THE CLOSURE ALSO PROVIDES THE AFFECTED PUBLIC UTILITIES WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM NECESSARY MAINTENANCE UNDER MORE FAVORABLE CONDITIONS THAN EXIST DURING NORMAL WORKING HOURS AND HEAVY TRAFFIC VOLUMES.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 66, No 25, PP 10-11
• Authors:
  • Marek, P J
• Publication Date: 1969-6-19

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Michigan Roads and Construction
  • Publisher: Baker Publishing Company

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Freeways; Highway maintenance; Lane closure; Night; Traffic; Traffic flow
• Uncontrolled Terms: Closures
• Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218507
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 29 1994 12:00AM