Lane Closure Policies
Many agencies have policy provisions that address specific aspects of decision-making during project delivery. Agencies may choose to develop and implement policy provisions in the form of mandated requirements and/or in the form of policy guidance, as appropriate to their individual operating environments. A lane closure policy is one example of a policy provision. In order to facilitate the determination of when a lane closure is permitted during the day, some state transportation agencies have developed lane closure policies, or strategies, that they use as guidance in determining daily permitted lane closure times. Permitted lane closure times define what times of the day, week, or season a lane closure is allowed on a facility and at a specific location or segment.
Lane Closure Policy Development, Enforcement, and Exceptions: A Survey of Seven State Transportation Agencies
This report developed by Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University, examines the lane closure policies from several state departments of transportation.
- Report (PDF, 872KB)
Colorado DOT
Each Colorado DOT (CDOT) region has its own lane closure policy. While the CDOT methodology used to analyze the roads to determine lane closure impacts is applied uniformly across all regions, the criteria and policies for closing lanes are region specific. For example, daytime lane closures are prohibited in the Denver Metro area, while they are allowed on the more rural sections of I-25. Policies are currently available for Regions 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6. Region 3 is working on a policy that will be posted to the CDOT web page once it is complete.
Maryland State Highway Administration
The Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA) Lane Closure Analysis Guidelines (PDF 54KB) focus on mobility impacts; however, MDSHA recommends that safety impacts should also be considered during evaluation of lane closures. MDSHA can waive mandatory conditions contained in the guidelines upon approval by the Chief Engineer. Pages 6 and 7 include flow charts outlining the lane closure guidelines procedure for arterials and freeways
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