Guidance for Conducting Effective Work Zone Process Reviews

Chapter 4. Connecting Process Reviews with other Agency Work Zone Improvement Efforts

Work zone process reviews can be a powerful tool for agencies in their efforts to limit the safety and mobility consequences of work zones. For some agencies, opportunities may also exist to mesh their process review efforts with other activities underway to monitor work zones or to improve agency effectiveness in addressing work zone impacts. FHWA Division personnel perform an internal annual compliance review of a sample of projects in each state. Similarly, overall transportation systems operation and management efforts in metropolitan areas are periodically assessed, including efforts to minimize work zone impacts. Finally, a Work Zone Management Capabilities Maturity Framework (WZMCMF) has recently been developed through FHWA support of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP II).

The FHWA initiatives can be another source of performance data that agencies can consider when conducting their process reviews. Including FHWA Division representatives on the process review team is the most direct means of ensuring that these data are available and included in process review deliberations. Similarly, the WZCMF is another tool available to agencies striving to become more effective in work zone safety and mobility management. As will be discussed later in this section, the WZCMF and process reviews can be used together to achieve significant improvements in work zone safety and mobility management policies and procedures.

FHWA DIVISION OFFICE MONITORING INITIATIVES

Both of the internal FHWA monitoring efforts strive to track level of implementation and abilities to effectively manage work zone impacts. One effort is intended primarily for metropolitan areas. The work zone management portion of that activity solicits feedback from the Division offices on:

• regional efforts to coordinate projects in ways to minimize impacts to travelers,
• efforts to assess actual travel impacts of work zones in the region and to make adjustments to minimize those impacts,
• efforts to develop and implement TMPs that strive to minimize work zone impacts, and
• efforts to keep transportation management centers informed of upcoming lane closures so that appropriate management activities can be implemented.

Certainly, the responses provide important insights about these particular work zone safety and mobility procedures, and should be a source of data acquired and examined during each process review cycle.

Meanwhile, the second monitoring effort examines compliance with key work zone safety and mobility regulations in order to provide a national perspective of regulation implementation. Questions are developed to respond to for certain work zones. The questions can vary from assessment to assessment depending on the particular compliance topics of interest. A sampling effort is employed to achieve responses that provide a statistically valid indication of compliance. Examples of the types of questions that might be included in an assessment effort are listed below:

• Did the TMP include a temporary traffic control (TTC) plan, transportation operations (TO) strategies, and public information (PI) strategies?
• Do the temporary traffic control devices for this project conform to the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)?
• Were positive protection devices considered in accordance with the agency’s policy or was an engineering study completed to determine the need for positive protection devices, based on work zone situations that place workers at increased safety risk and where positive protection offers the highest potential for increased safety for workers and road users?
• Were separate pay items provided for major categories of traffic control devices, safety features, and work zone safety activities, including but not limited to positive protection devices and uniformed law enforcement activities?
• Did the State provide inspections at a level necessary to provide ongoing compliance with the State’s quality guidelines to help maintain the quality and adequacy of the temporary traffic control devices for the duration of the project?
• Have the needs of all road users (motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians, including persons with disabilities) been accommodated through the work zone?
• Were temporary pedestrian facilities detectable and did they include accessibility features consistent with the features present in the existing pedestrian facilities where the existing pedestrian facilities were disrupted, closed, or relocated in a TTC zone?

Responses to these questions for the sample of projects examined in each state would be another good source of information to be considered in a process review effort.

THE WORK ZONE MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY MATURITY FRAMEWORK

Recent national research has led to the successful application of capability maturity models to transportation system operations and management improvement efforts. These models focus on several institutional features that determine a transportation agency’s ability to improve the outcomes of system operations and management efforts. Work zone management is a key subset of an agency’s effectiveness to improve transportation system operations. Consequently, a framework to apply the capability maturity model to work zone management has been developed. Additional information on this topic can be found here: http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/shrp2/SHRP2_S2-L06-RR-2.pdf.

The institutional features considered under the framework consist of six main sub-dimensions:

1. Business processes
2. Systems and technology
3. Performance measurement
4. Agency culture
5. Organization and workforce development
6. Collaboration

Several topics relating to the Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule and Traffic Control Devices rule are specifically incorporated into this framework (see Table 1). Levels of performance have been identified for each of these topics, and a set of actions have been identified that provide direction to agencies on how to improve their capability on that particular topic:

• Level 1: Not Performed or Minimally Performed – Activities and relationships regarding work zone management are largely ad hoc, informal, and champion-driven – substantially outside the mainstream of other transportation activities.
• Level 2: Managed – Basic strategy applications are in place with key process and needed staff capacities under development – but limited accountability and collaboration and sustainable resources exist across the agency.
• Level 3: Integrated – Standardized strategy applications are implemented in priority contexts and managed for performance; the transportation systems management and operations (TSM&O) technical and processes are developed, documented, and integrated into the regional transportation agencies, and partnerships to achieve success are aligned.
• Level 4: Optimized – The TSM&O is a full, sustainable, region-wide program, established on the basis of continuous improvement with all partners.

Table 1. Sub-Dimensions Included in the Draft Work Zone Management (WZM) Framework

Sub-Dimensions	Topics Considered Under Each Sub-Dimension
Business Processes	How does the determination of project “significance” (as defined by the agency and 23 CFR 630 Subpart J) affect project development decisions? How does your agency consider road user costs in making WZM decisions? Does your agency utilize innovative contracting to help achieve work zone management goals and objectives? How does your agency develop, implement, and evaluate TMPs?
Systems and Technology	How does your agency assess and adopt new technology and procedures for WZM? How does your agency apply existing technology already in place to address WZM needs?
Performance Measurement	How does your agency quantify WZM performance? How are WZM performance measures used by your agency?
Culture	How is WZM innovation encouraged within the agency? Is WZM valued within the agency? What type of agency WZM outreach and reporting exists?
Organization and Workforce	What types of WZM knowledge and skills exist within the agency? How are WZM knowledge, skills, and abilities developed within the agency? How are WZM knowledge, skills, and abilities implemented within the agency?
Collaboration	How does the agency utilize law enforcement for WZM needs? How does the agency consider private-sector input (e.g., contractors, affected businesses) in addressing WZM needs? How does the agency incorporate other stakeholders into the WZM process?

A synergistic relationship exists between the WZMCMF and agency process reviews. Specifically, the framework provides a systematic approach toward identifying actions that an agency can take to evolve towards a higher-performing organization regarding work zone safety and mobility management. In other words, efforts by an agency to apply the framework to its set of conditions could provide useful input into process reviews and action items. Conversely, data collected and examined regarding work zone management effectiveness in process review efforts could be key inputs for an agency wishing to apply the framework.

Use of the work zone capability maturity framework in conjunction with process reviews can provide synergistic benefits to many agencies.

You may need the Adobe® Reader® to view the PDFs on this page.

< Previous | Next >