Modeling Highway Performance under Various Short-Term Work Zone Configurations

Abstract

Federal rules mandate state departments of transportation and metropolitan planning organizations to measure and report on the performance of highways within their jurisdictions. Those rules support an initiative for performance-based planning and programming. However, the federal mandates do not provide guidance on how to measure performance during performance-deteriorating events like the presence of work zones. To bridge this gap, this study proposed three performance measures representative of level of service (LOS), travel delays, and environmental impacts and demonstrated their applicability through a case study that simulated work zones under various configurations. The results of the analysis provided clear evidence that work zone length is insignificant with respect to facility performance. Additionally, the study concluded that late merge control holds great promise for implementation as an alternative to early merge control, which is currently the standard practice. The study is significant for presenting pioneer work on performance measurement and management at work zones. The study results are expected to assist agencies in developing improved performance-based measures for work zone planning and scheduling purposes.