TITLE:
Assessing Work Zone Traffic Control Options for 3-to-1 Lane Closures
AUTHORS:
Troyee Saha, Virginia P. Sisiopiku
KEYWORDS:
Work Zone Traffic Control, Early Merge, Late Merge, VISSIM, Simulation
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Transportation Technologies,
Vol.10 No.1,
January
13,
2020
ABSTRACT: The presence of highway construction zones hinders
mobility and affects traffic operations. A 2002 study by Wunderlich &
Hardesty reported that nearly 20% of the National Highway System roads have
scheduled construction work during the peak construction season. Additionally,
approximately 24% of non-recurring delays on freeways are caused by work zones.
To minimize time lost by travelers due to work zone induced traffic congestion,
it is important to efficiently plan temporary traffic control (TTC) at work zones.
Earlier research conducted by Sisiopiku & Ramadan, 2017 confirms that the
majority of State Departments of Transportation currently rely on their earlier
experience when planning for work zones, rather than consider operational and
safety impacts. Using a study corridor in Birmingham, Alabama as a test bed,
this study investigated the operational impacts of TTC options for work zones
with 3-to-1 lane drop configuration using traffic data collected from the Alabama Department of Transportation. The VISSIM simulation platform was
used to conduct the experiments. The experimental design considered two TTC
strategies (i.e., static late and
early merge) under 3-to-1 lane drop configuration for work-space length of 500
ft for long- and short-term lane closures. The study concluded that the 3-to-1
lane-drop configuration should not be scheduled for long-term duration.
Maintenance work can be scheduled from midnight to early morning and under the
3-to-1 lane closure scenario the performance of early and late merge traffic
control is similar. Overall, this study used simulation modeling to compare the
effectiveness of two traffic control strategies at work zones on the basis of
different performance measures. The results provide information about the
impact of each control strategy on density, speed, travel time etc. They also
help determine what time of the day is best for lane closings in order to
reduce adverse impacts from capacity reduction. Thus, the findings are expected
to provide valuable guidance for agencies responsible for planning, design, and
operations of work zones in the future.