Evaluation of Interstate Highway Capacity for Short-Term Work Zone Lane Closures

2004 ◽  
Vol 1877 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne A. Sarasua ◽  
William J. Davis ◽  
David B. Clarke ◽  
Jayaram Kottapally ◽  
Pawan Mulukutla
Keyword(s):  
Work Zone ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Highway Capacity ◽  
Interstate Highway ◽  
Lane Closures

Estimating Interstate Highway Capacity for Short-Term Work Zone Lane Closures

2006 ◽  
Vol 1948 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne A. Sarasua ◽  
William J. Davis ◽  
Mashrur A. Chowdhury ◽  
Jennifer H. Ogle
Keyword(s):  
Work Zone ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Highway Capacity ◽  
Interstate Highway ◽  
Lane Closures

Field Evaluation of Late Merge Traffic Control in Work Zones

2005 ◽  
Vol 1911 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew G. Beacher ◽  
Michael D. Fontaine ◽  
Nicholas J. Garber
Keyword(s):  
Field Test ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
Positive Response ◽  
Field Evaluation ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Field ◽  
Lane Closures

The traffic control strategy of the late merge in work zones was devised to improve flow and safety at work zone lane closures. Although some states have put the strategy into practice, only a handful of short-term field studies have formally evaluated its effectiveness. Additional field studies were necessary to assess the efficacy of the strategy and its proper deployment. This paper documents the results of a field test of the late merge traffic control conducted over several months. The late merge strategy was evaluated by comparing its effectiveness with that of traditional plans for work zone lane closures. The field test was conducted on a primary route in Tappahannock, Virginia, at a two-to-one lane closure. Results showed that throughput increased, but the increase was not statistically significant. Likewise, time in queue decreased, but the decrease was not statistically significant. These results were much less dramatic than those of other studies. Possible reasons for this disparity include different driver populations, road types, vehicle mixes, and site-specific characteristics. Despite limited improvements in throughput and time in queue, more drivers were in the closed lane, a positive response to the late merge signs.

Queuing and Natural Diversion at Short-Term Freeway Work Zone Lane Closures

1996 ◽  
Vol 1529 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald L. Ullman
Keyword(s):  
High Volume ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Temporary Work ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Traffic Conditions ◽  
Traffic Stream ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Lane Closures

Research conducted to explore the effects of natural diversion on traffic conditions and travel patterns upstream of temporary work zone lane closures on high-volume urban freeways in Texas is described. Specific objectives were to explore how natural diversion affects traffic volumes at the exit and entrance ramps upstream of the lane closures and the interrelationships between the freeway and frontage road operating conditions that develop at a closure and the amount of natural diversion that occurs. The field studies showed that the rate of queue growth upstream of the short-term lane closures diminished significantly after the first hour at each site. Eventually, the queues approached a balanced state in which the upstream end of the queue became almost stationary. This stabilization was due to significant reductions in entrance ramp volumes both upstream of the freeway queue and within the limits of queuing, as well as to changes in exit ramp volumes within the queue. As a result of these ramp volume changes the constrained flow rate within the queue increased as a function of the distance upstream of the actual lane closure. Using the theory of shock waves in a traffic stream it was shown that the changes in ramp volumes and resulting impact on constrained freeway flow rates within the queue were consistent with the queue stabilization process observed at each site.

Survey of Work Zone Practices and Validation of Highway Capacity Manual Work Zone Capacity Model

2021 ◽  
pp. 036119812110145
Author(s):  
Raju Thapa ◽  
Julius Codjoe ◽  
Amanua Osafo
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Highway Capacity ◽  
Local Data ◽  
Highway Capacity Manual ◽  
Capacity Model ◽  
Minimum Capacity ◽  
Lane Closures

Capacity at work zones is one of the major factors affecting queueing at work zones. Different states within the United States use their own methodology in determining work zone capacities and when to implement lane closures at work zones. The objective of this study was two-fold: first, to provide a synthesis of work zone lane closure procedures practiced by the various Departments of Transportation (DOTs) nationwide; and secondly, to validate the Highway Capacity Manual 6th edition’s (HCM 6) work zone capacity model using field-collected data in the state of Louisiana. The first objective was met by administering a survey to DOTs nationwide. The survey revealed that half of the states that responded to the survey require minimum capacity for short-term work zone lane closures, with minimum capacity ranging from 1100 to 1900 passenger cars per hour per lane. In addition, most of the states reported implementing consistent policies across various district offices. The survey findings provide a good source of information on queue analysis and work zone lane closure policies adopted across different DOTs. The second objective was met by collecting traffic flow data from 10 work zone sites within the state of Louisiana and validating the capacity model in the HCM 6. Results showed the HCM 6 model slightly overestimating the average field-observed capacity by 6%. In the absence of local data, the HCM 6 model provides a great tool to estimate work zone capacities in Louisiana.

New Insights into Freeway Capacity at Work Zones: Empirical Case Study

2000 ◽  
Vol 1710 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Al-Kaisy ◽  
Miao Zhou ◽  
Fred Hall
Keyword(s):  
Field Data ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Highway Capacity ◽  
Highway Capacity Manual ◽  
Congested Traffic ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
Freeway Capacity ◽  
Lane Closures

A construction project in Ontario, Canada, provided the opportunity to use field data to investigate freeway capacity at long-term lane closures due to rehabilitation work. Data from two lane closures at the same construction site (eastbound and westbound) were examined. The site is located on the Gardiner Expressway in the southern part of downtown Toronto. Data were collected during 4 days, totaling around 53 h of congested traffic operations. Results showed significant variation in freeway capacity in the work zones. Despite this variation, average capacity values are reasonably close to the corresponding values provided in the Highway Capacity Manual. Four intervening variables were investigated; all exhibited significant but different effects on freeway work-zone capacity. These variables included temporal variation (which is thought to relate to driver characteristics), grade, day of week, and weather conditions. The results confirmed the pressing need for more extensive field data that will allow better identification of the effect of various control variables on work-zone capacity.

Machine Learning Approach to Forecast Work Zone Mobility using Probe Vehicle Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 2674 (9) ◽  
pp. 157-167
Author(s):  
Mohsen Kamyab ◽  
Stephen Remias ◽  
Erfan Najmi ◽  
Sanaz Rabinia ◽  
Jonathan M. Waddell
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Learning Algorithms ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Probe Vehicle ◽  
Vehicle Data ◽  
Lane Closures

The aim of deploying intelligent transportation systems (ITS) is often to help engineers and operators identify traffic congestion. The future of ITS-based traffic management is the prediction of traffic conditions using ubiquitous data sources. There are currently well-developed prediction models for recurrent traffic congestion such as during peak hour. However, there is a need to predict traffic congestion resulting from non-recurring events such as highway lane closures. As agencies begin to understand the value of collecting work zone data, rich data sets will emerge consisting of historical work zone information. In the era of big data, rich mobility data sources are becoming available that enable the application of machine learning to predict mobility for work zones. The purpose of this study is to utilize historical lane closure information with supervised machine learning algorithms to forecast spatio-temporal mobility for future lane closures. Various traffic data sources were collected from 1,160 work zones on Michigan interstates between 2014 and 2017. This study uses probe vehicle data to retrieve a mobility profile for these historical observations, and uses these profiles to apply random forest, XGBoost, and artificial neural network (ANN) classification algorithms. The mobility prediction results showed that the ANN model outperformed the other models by reaching up to 85% accuracy. The objective of this research was to show that machine learning algorithms can be used to capture patterns for non-recurrent traffic congestion even when hourly traffic volume is not available.

scholarly journals Comparing Three Lane Merging Schemes for Short-Term Work Zones: A Simulation Study

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rami Harb ◽  
Essam Radwan ◽  
Vinayak V. Dixit
Keyword(s):  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Compliance Rate ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Highway Traffic ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Management Technology ◽  
Traffic Composition ◽  
Different Levels

Traffic safety and mobility of roadway work zones have been considered to be one of the major concerns in highway traffic safety and operations in Florida. Dynamic lane merging (DLM) systems—ITS-based lane management technology—were introduced by several states in an attempt to enhance both safety and mobility of roadway work zones. Two forms of lane merging, namely, the early merge and the late merge were designed to advise drivers on definite merging locations. Up to date, there are no studies that contrast both merging schemes under matching work zone settings. This study simulates a two-to-one work zone lane closure configuration under three different Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) plans in VISSIM. The first MOT is the conventional plans used in Florida’s work zones, the second MOT is a simplified dynamic early merging system (early SDLMS), and the third MOT is a simplified dynamic late merging systems (late SDLMSs). Field data was collected to calibrate and validate the simulation models. Simulation results indicated that overall, under different levels of drivers’ compliance rate and different percentages of trucks in the traffic composition, the early SLDMS outperformed the conventional MOT and the late SDLMS in terms of travel times and throughputs.

Effect of the Work Zone Double-Fine Law in Texas

2000 ◽  
Vol 1715 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald L. Ullman ◽  
Paul J. Carlson ◽  
Nada D. Trout
Keyword(s):  
Public Safety ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Work Zone ◽  
Work Zones ◽  
Citation Data ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Texas Department ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Law ◽  
External Reasons

Results of research conducted to investigate the short-term effects of the double-fine law in work zones implemented in Texas on January 1, 1998, are presented. Field studies of traffic speeds in several work zones were performed before and after the law was implemented. Traffic citation data for these same work zones were also obtained from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Analyses showed that traffic speeds in the work zones 4 to 6 months after the law was enacted were essentially unchanged from before the law was enacted. Similarly, citation frequency and fines levied were not significantly higher than they were before enactment of the law. The data suggested that a higher proportion of drivers who were issued citations after the law was implemented chose to take defensive driving training and to have the ticket subsequently dismissed. However, researchers could not determine whether this was due to the increased fine or to other external reasons.

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