Work Zone Traffic Management Guidance and Examples
- FHWA Traffic Management Resources
- Traffic Management Resources from States
- Congestion Mitigation Resources
FHWA Traffic Management Resources
- Developing and Implementing Transportation Management Plans for Work Zones (HTML, PDF 1.4MB) - Provides information about developing and implementing Transportation Management Plans (TMPs), including how and where a TMP fits into project delivery processes, possible components of a TMP, descriptions of work zone management strategies, and examples of how agencies are using TMPs.
- Work Zone Impacts Assessment: An Approach to Assess and Manage Work Zone Safety and Mobility Impacts of Road Projects (HTML, PDF 10 MB) - Presents a general approach for work zone impacts assessment and provides examples of how agencies are currently assessing and managing work zone impacts.
- Sample Transportation Management Plans and Templates - Provides samples, templates, and tips to help transportation agencies develop and implement their own TMPs. The links below include a link to the entire document, which includes the sample plans and templates, and links to the individual templates in editable Microsoft Word format so that agencies can fill in and tailor the templates to their projects.
- To Lesson Work Zone Impacts: Try TMPs - Article in the September/October 2010 issue of FHWA Public Roads that describes how TMPs can help State DOTs identify and coordinate strategies to reduce crashes and congestion during construction projects.
- Transportation Management Plan (TMP) Examples - Includes TMP development resources and sample TMPs from several states.
- Treating Potential Back-of-Queue Safety Hazards (PDF 3.4MB) - Highlights methods to analyze work zone impacts and queue lengths and provides strategies to mitigate potential back-of-queue hazards.
- Speed Management Information Resources - This site contains a searchable collection of resources dealing with speed management topics/applications, including work zones.
- Use of Exposure Control Measures - Summarizes the various types of exposure control measures and discusses how each can improve the safety of workers and motorists in work zones.
Traffic Management Resources from States
NCHRP Synthesis 413: Techniques for Effective Highway Construction Projects in Congested Urban Areas
NCHRP Synthesis 413 (PDF 5.1MB) identifies strategies and successful practices used by transportation agencies to deal effectively with the challenges and impacts of construction projects in congested urban corridors. Includes a chapter dedicated to traffic management strategies.
Colorado Department of Transportation
The Colorado DOT Work Zone Speed Control Report (PDF 462KB) explores several methods to reduce the speed of traffic through work zones, including variable message signs, presence of law enforcement, and signing methods.
Michigan Department of State Police
The Michigan State Police Traffic Management Guide (PDF 71KB) assists law enforcement professionals in effectively managing local traffic problems and documenting the results.
New Jersey Department of Transportation
The New Jersey DOT (NJDOT) Traffic Mitigation Guidelines for Work Zone Safety and Mobility (PDF 1MB) provides guidance for consistent and comprehensive consideration of traffic mitigation strategies for NJDOT roadway reconstruction projects. The document lays out a process for integrating traffic management into project development, beginning with assessing the level of traffic mitigation needed for a project and estimating order of magnitude costs for traffic mitigation. It then provides guidelines for selecting traffic mitigation strategies, a description of the purpose and components of various traffic mitigation documents, and suggested measures and procedures for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of traffic mitigation strategies. The document includes tables that describe categories of traffic mitigation strategies for different project types and characteristics, and a flow chart that illustrates traffic mitigation steps by project development phase.
5/23/12 Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada FAST Dashboard
The Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation (FAST) Dashboard is Southern Nevada's freeway performance monitoring and management system. It enables the Nevada DOT to evaluate operational issues related to work zones, incidents, special events, and daily recurring congestion, and the effectiveness of activities to manage the impacts. It also enables the public to view real-time and historical travel time and performance information in a wide variety of user-selectable and user-customizable displays.
Ohio Department of Transportation
The Ohio DOT (ODOT) Traffic Management in Work Zones web page provides processes and resources for work zone traffic management, such as permitted lane closure times, a maintenance of traffic (MOT) alternatives analysis process, and sample documents.
In 2004, the Ohio DOT developed a process to monitor work zone crashes in near real-time. Ohio DOT obtains work zone crash reports in near real-time from local law enforcement and then inputs this information into a database that sorts crashes into one half mile segments for comparison to historical pre-construction average crash frequency. When ODOT finds abnormally high concentrations of crashes in a certain location after implementation of a work zone, ODOT performs a field visit to the construction area to look for causes and potential fixes. In 2004, ODOT developed a process to monitor work zone crashes in near real-time. ODOT obtains work zone crash reports from local law enforcement and inputs this information into a database that sorts crashes into one-half-mile segments for comparison to historical pre-construction average crash frequency. When abnormally high concentrations of crashes occur in a certain location after implementation of a work zone, ODOT performs a field visit to look for causes and potential fixes. Work Zone Crash Analysis and Traffic Management in Work Zones - the ODOT MOT Process (PPT 2.3MB), a presentation by David Holstein, P.E., ODOT State Traffic Engineer, further describes this process.
Oregon Department of Transportation
As a result of the 10-year, $3 billion Oregon Transportation Investment Act (OTIA), a significant period of construction began in Oregon to repair/replace hundreds of bridges, pave and maintain city/county roads, improve/expand interchanges, add new capacity to highways, and remove freight bottlenecks. Keeping traffic and freight moving during this time was a priority, so the Oregon DOT (ODOT) instituted a statewide traffic mobility program to forecast, manage, and track potential mobility conflicts, resolve issues, and coordinate efforts. Key work zone related components of the program include:
- Minimizing construction-related vehicle delay through the establishment and enforcement of delay threshold limits in key highway corridors.
- Taking a more proactive approach by considering mobility constraints up front and designing for issues, detours, and mobility needs, rather than trying to accommodate them after design and right before bid.
- Developing a new methodology and online analysis tool for estimating and managing project and corridor work zone delays and used that to help design projects with acceptable impacts as much as possible.
- Developing and implementing Traffic Management Plans for the overall program, for key highway corridors, and for individual projects.
ODOT's Highway Mobility Operations Manual contains all of the mobility requirements for projects on Oregon highways. The manual spells out how traffic delays and size and weight restrictions will be addressed on a statewide basis, which in turn clarifies the requirements for each key corridor. Designers can then use this information to help create a tailored traffic management solution for any route. ODOT provided training to agency staff and stakeholders on the purpose and content of the manual.
- ODOT Statewide Traffic Mobility Web Site
- Oregon's Statewide Traffic Mobility Program (PPT 3.3MB) - Presentation given by Randall Thomas, ODOT Statewide Traffic Mobility Manager, during June 20, 2007 Talking Freight Seminar
- ODOT Traffic Control Plans Design Manual - Provides an organized collection of design standards, guidelines, policies, and procedures to be used in the development of a temporary traffic control plan.
- ODOT Traffic Control Plan Cost Estimator (XLS 2.0MB) - Spreadsheet to help assemble a traffic control plan cost estimate for an ODOT highway construction project and to help designers across Oregon organize and manage traffic control devices, quantities, and costs.
- ODOT Traffic Management Plans
- Maximizing Investments in Work Zone Safety in Oregon (PDF 1.7MB) - Examines methods for maximizing ODOT work zone safety investments in enforcement, traffic control, and public information. Includes a section on ODOT's current work zone traffic management procedures.
- Dynamic Work Zone Traffic Management (PDF 340KB) - May 2010 ITE Journal article that describes how the Oregon DOT is using smart work zone technology to increase safety, provide motorists with work zone delay and travel time information, and collect real-time traffic data for traffic management during construction.
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation
In 2002, the Pennsylvania DOT (PennDOT) began a major reconstruction project on the I-279 Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel in the city of Pittsburgh. With heavy traffic on the bridge and tunnel, closing the structures and detouring motorists would not be easy. PennDOT studied how best to complete the work and began planning detour routes in the early 1980s, well before the project began. PennDOT decided to perform various stages of the project separately in an effort to minimize the impact a total closure would have on the region. The last phase of the project involved work on the main bridge span and the tunnel. Closing off the main span of the bridge and the tunnel required the use of two main detour routes that already carried large volumes of traffic. With this in mind, PennDOT began reconstruction and rehabilitation work on the detour routes almost 10 years before the closures occurred. During the closures, PennDOT implemented many innovative strategies to reduce congestion and delay on the detour routes, including turning off traffic signals to create free-flow routes, expanding lane reversal hours, and opening a hole through an existing concrete barrier to prevent motorists from having to merge into a single lane when exiting a tunnel. An article published in the December 2007 issue of Roads & Bridges, "Holding Down the Fort," by Frank Cippel, provides more information.
Congestion Mitigation Resources
- Reducing Congestion - Good Work Zone Management Strategies that Can Help - Presentations given at the February 17, 2005 Talking Operations Seminar.
- Traffic Congestion and Reliability - Linking Solutions to Problems - Provides a snapshot of traffic congestion and its sources in the United States, highlights the growing importance of system reliability, and recommends ways to address congestion.
- FHWA Focus on Congestion Relief Web Site
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