Evaluation of Traffic Control Options in Work Zones

Lane closures for work zones along freeways produce bottlenecks. These bottlenecks are problematic due to loss of capacity and excessive lane changes, which impact the facility performance represented by operational level of service, emissions, and travel time. In addition, transportation agencies opt to nighttime scheduling of work zones which, in turn, has several operational, safety, and cost impacts. The issue persists because little is known about the impacts of available temporary traffic control strategies on operations at work zones, and associated emissions, travel time, and construction scheduling. This study utilized a comprehensive literature review, a national survey of practices, and microscopic simulation experiments to document and evaluate available traffic control strategies for work zone management. Using a corridor in Birmingham, AL as a testbed, the study quantified operational, environmental, and travel time reliability impacts of four temporary traffic control strategies for work zones. Also, a performance-based work zone scheduling approach was developed to provide decision support assistance for transportation agencies. The study provided evidence that the work zone length is insignificant with respect to facility level of service, environmental impacts, and delays. Additionally, the study concluded that late merge and mainline merge metering hold great promise and should be considered for implementation in place of the early merge approach commonly used in practice today.

• Record URL:
  https://stride.ce.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/STRIDE_2016-001S_Final_Report-1.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Alabama, Birmingham

  Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
  1075 13th Street South
  Birmingham, AL  United States  35294

  Southeastern Transportation Research, Innovation, Development and Education Center (STRIDE)

  University of Florida
  365 Weil Hall
  Gainesville, FL  United States  32611

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Sisiopiku, Virginia P
  • Ramadan, Ossama E M
• Publication Date: 2017-4

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 73p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction scheduling; Environmental impacts; Evaluation and assessment; Lane closure; Literature reviews; Merging traffic; Pollutants; State of the practice; Surveys; Traffic simulation; Travel time; Work zone traffic control
• Geographic Terms: Birmingham (Alabama)
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01641356
• Record Type: Publication
• Contract Numbers: 2016-001
• Files: UTC, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
• Created Date: Jul 20 2017 5:17PM