APPLYING INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (ITS) TECHNOLOGY FOR SAFER HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTIOPN MANAGEMENT

Construction activity on urban freeways severely impacts regional mobility. This is especially true in the crowded Northeast region of the United States and is particularly true in New York City, were near saturation volumes are experienced over extended portions of the day. Under these conditions, even small construction projects can cause huge delays due to construction related incidents. New York State's Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) was confronted with the task of reconstructing the interchange of the Prospect Expressway and Gowanus Expressway, two major roadways in Brooklyn, New York. The interchange reconstruction, which was the final phase of the $83 million Prospect Expressway Reconstruction Project, required a 13 month closure of the right lane of the Gowanus Expressway in the most heavily traveled direction and the closure of the two-lane connecting ramp from the inbound Prospect Expressway to the inbound Gowanus. NYSDOT feared that the loss of a lane during the AM peak would further disrupt the existing poor quality traffic flow and the resulting turbulence would become a major generator of incidents. Another major consideration was the projected impact on local traffic. A blockage of the Gowanus would cause a flood of vehicles onto local streets, which were inadequate to carry the increased load. To deal with these problems, NYSDOT devised a detailed plan, which used intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technology to complement traditional Maintenance and Protection of Traffic (M&PT) techniques. This paper describes the role of the ITS elements in the management of traffic during the interchange reconstruction phase of the project.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Full conference proceedings available on CD-ROM.
• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Shapiro, M S
  • Pavis, A
  • Stafford Jr, O V
  • Yagoda, H N
• Conference:
  • 68th Annual Meeting of the Institute of Transportation Engineers
  • Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • Date: 1998-8-9 to 1998-8-12
• Publication Date: 1998

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 12p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction management; Highways; Intelligent transportation systems; Interchanges; Lane closure; Reconstruction; Saturation flow; Secondary roads; Technology; Traffic volume; Urban highways
• Identifier Terms: Gowanus Expressway; Prospect Expressway
• Geographic Terms: Brooklyn (New York, New York)
• Subject Areas: Construction; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00807117
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 30 2001 12:00AM