Work Zone Traffic Management
Managing traffic during construction is necessary to minimize traffic delays, maintain motorist and worker safety, complete roadwork in a timely manner, and maintain access for businesses and residents. Effective work zone traffic management includes assessing work zone impacts and documenting strategies for mitigating the impacts in a transportation management plan (TMP). The Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule requires TMPs for all Federal-aid highway projects.
Work zone traffic management strategies should be identified based on the project constraints, construction phasing/staging plan, type of work zone, and anticipated work zone impacts. Once these strategies are implemented, they need to be monitored to ensure they effectively manage work zone impacts. Examples of possible performance measures for work zone traffic management strategies include volume, travel time, queue length, delay, number of incidents, incident response and clearance times, contractor incidents, community complaints, user costs, and cumulative impacts from adjacent construction activities.
