Mitigating Work Zone Safety and Mobility Challenges through Intelligent Transportation Systems

Case Studies

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Contact Information: WorkZoneFeedback@dot.gov

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
Office of Operations
1200 New Jersey Ave., SE
Washington, D.C. 20590
www.fhwa.dot.gov/workzones

FHWA-HOP-14-007

January 2014

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This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.

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Technical Report Documentation Page

1. Report No. FHWA-HOP-14-007		2. Government Accession No.	3. Recipient's Catalog No.
4. Title and Subtitle Mitigating Work Zones and Mobility Challenges through Intelligent Transportation Systems: Case Studies			5. Report Date January 2014
			6. Performing Organization Code
7. Author(s) Gerald Ullman (TTI), Jeremy Schroeder (Battelle)			8. Performing Organization Report No.
9. Performing Organization Name and Address Battelle 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201			10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)
			11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-06-D-0007
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Federal Highway Administration Office of Operations (HOP) Mail Stop: E86-205 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, D.C. 20590			13. Type of Report and Period Covered
			14. Sponsoring Agency Code FHWA
15. Supplementary Notes Project lead: Tracy Scriba, FHWA
16. Abstract This report documents several case studies of how agencies used work zone intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to mitigate safety and mobility issues in work zones. The report illustrates how to apply a systems engineering-based decision-making process to designing, selecting, and implementing a system to address work zone needs. The report presents the steps followed by the agency/contractor in this decision-making framework for five specific projects. The work zone ITS deployments documented provide examples of selecting and deploying commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) systems; a tailored design and integration of ITS for a specific work zone purpose; and using and supplementing permanent ITS deployments for work zone management purposes. Tips are provided for how to effectively apply ITS to other work zones.
17. Key Words Work zone, Intelligent transportation systems, Case studies, Safety, Mobility		18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available to the public.
19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified	20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified	21. No. of Pages 64	22. Price

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 2 - MITIGATING HIGH-SPEED REAR-END WORK ZONE CRASHES USING COMMERCIAL OFF-THE-SHELF ITS: EFFINGHAM AND MOUNT VERNON, IL
  • Overview of the Projects
    • I-70/I-57 Interchange, Effingham, Illinois
    • The I-57/I-64 Interchange, Mount Vernon, Illinois
  • Applicability of the Engineering Design Process to the Case Studies
    • Defining the Problem
    • Specifying Key Requirements of a Solution
    • Identifying and Evaluating Alternatives
    • Selecting, Designing, and Procuring the Best Solution
    • Deploying the Solution
    • Evaluation and Lessons Learned
• CHAPTER 3 - TRAFFIC MOBILITY PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATION MONITORING USING ITS: BANGERTER HIGHWAY, UT
  • Overview of the Project
  • Applicability of the Engineering Design Process
    • Defining the Problem
    • Specifying Requirements of a Solution
    • Identifying and Evaluating Alternatives
    • Selecting, Designing, and Implementing the Best Solution
    • Evaluation and Lessons Learned
• CHAPTER 4 - MANAGING TRAFFIC DURING CONSTRUCTION BY SUPPLEMENTING EXISTING PERMANENT ITS: I-15 CORE, UT
  • Overview of the Project
  • Applicability of the Engineering Design Process to the Case Studies
    • Defining the Problem
    • Specifying Key Requirements of the Solution
    • Identifying and Evaluating Alternatives
    • Selecting, Designing, and Implementing the Best Solution
    • Evaluation and Lessons Learned
• CHAPTER 5 - MANAGING WORK ZONE TRAFFIC USING PERMANENT ITS: LAS VEGAS, NV
  • Overview of the System
  • Applicability of the Engineering Design Process
    • Defining the Problem and Specifying Requirements of a Solution
    • Selecting, Designing, and Implementing the Best Solution
    • Evaluation and Lessons Learned
• CHAPTER 6 - SUMMARY OF KEY CONCEPTS
  • Defining the Problem
  • Specify Requirements of the Solution
  • Identify and Evaluate Alternatives, as Necessary
  • Select, Design, and Implement the Best Solution
  • Evaluating
• APPENDIX A. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• APPENDIX B. REFERENCES

List of Figures

• Figure 1. Map. I-70/I-57 Interchange Project, Effingham, Illinois
• Figure 2. Map. I-57/I-64 Project Location in Mount Vernon, Illinois
• Figure 3. Map. Limits of the I-70/I-57 WZTMS
• Figure 4. Photo. Temporary, Solar-Powered Traffic Detection and Camera Systems
• Figure 5. Photo. iCone® Portable Traffic Monitoring Devices
• Figure 6. Map. Layout of the iCone® Sensorss
• Figure 7. Photo. Messages Displayed on Portable CMS were Altered to be More Specific (Bottom) than what was Required in the Initial Special Provision (Top)
• Figure 8. Map. Location of the Bangerter Highway Project
• Figure 9. Photo. Example of a Bluetooth Antenna Installation
• Figure 10. Graph. Example of a Travel Time and Average Segment Speed Plots by Time of Day
• Figure 11. Graph. Example of a Travel Time Confidence Interval Plot by Time of Day
• Figure 12. Map. I-15 CORE Project
• Figure 13. Photo. Temporary ITS Devices along I-15
• Figure 14. Photo. Sequencing Travel Time Sign on State Street Northbound
• Figure 15. Photo. Hybrid Travel Time Signs for I-15
• Figure 16. Photo. The Las Vegas FAST Control Room
• Figure 17. Illustration. Examples of CMS Warning Messages Posted by FAST Personnel for Work Activity on I-15
• Figure 18. Map. Location of I-15 Crumb Rubber Overlay Project, Fall 2011
• Figure 19. Chart. Example of a Speed Contour Map that can be Generated Using FAST Data
• Figure 20. Map. Example of FAST Crash Performance Dashboard

List of Tables

• Table 1. WZTMS Message Logic for I-57/I-70 Interchange Project. (Source: IDOT)
• Table 2. PCMS Messages Displayed for Different Traffic Statuses, I-57/I-64 Project, Mount Vernon, Illinois. (Source: IDOT)
• Table 3. Operational Data from the Two Projects. (Source: IDOT)
• Table 4. Summary of Impacts of I-15 CORE Construction. (Source UDOT)

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS