Optimizing Work Zones for Two-Lane Highway Maintenance Projects
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 128, Issue 2
Abstract
Highway maintenance is very expensive in terms of not only costs to the responsible agencies but also disruptive delays to users. Construction and maintenance activities on two-lane two-way highways often require the closure of one lane. During certain periods of a day, the user delay associated with lane closure may be quite intolerable to motorists. A numerical method is developed to optimize work-zone scheduling and traffic control on two-lane two-way highways where one lane at a time is closed. The objective is to minimize the total cost, including maintenance, labor/equipment idle, and user-delay costs, considering traffic flows varying over time. The optimized variables (e.g., work-zone lengths and cycle times) and the sensitivity results generated from a numerical example are presented in this study.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Anderson, S. D., and Fisher, D. J. (1997). “Constructibility review process for transportation facilities.” Nat. Cooperative Hwy. Res. Program, Rep. No. 390, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Cassidy, M. J., and Han, L. D. (1992). “Predicting vehicle delays and queue lengths on two-lane highways during maintenance activity.” TRB 71st Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Dudek, C. L., and Richard, S. H. (1982). “Traffic capacity through urban freeway work zones in Texas.” Transp. Res. Rec. 869, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 14–18.
Dudek, C. L., Richard, S. H., and Buffington, J. L. (1986). “Some effects of traffic control on four-lane divided highways.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1086, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 20–30.
Fwa, T. F., Cheu, R. L., and Muntasir, A. (1998), “Scheduling of pavement maintenance to minimize traffic delays.” Trans. Res. Rec. 1650, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 28–35.
Goulias, D. G., Yahalom, S. Z., and Chien, S. (2001). “Lane occupancy charges.” Final Rep., FHWA/NJDOT 2001-07, New Jersey Dept. of Transportation, Trenton, N.J.
Highway capacity manual (HCM). (1985). Spec. Rep. 209, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Janson, B. N., Anderson, R. B., and Cummings, A. (1987). “Mitigating corridor travel impacts during reconstruction: An overview of literature, experiences, and current research.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1132, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 34–41.
Krammes, R. A., and Lopez, G. O. (1994). “Updated capacity values for short-term freeway work zone lane closures.” TRB 73rd Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Lewis, R. M. (1989). “Work-zone traffic control concepts and terminology.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1230, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 1–11.
Manual on uniform traffic control devices for streets and highways (MUTCD). (1988). Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.
Martineli, D. R., and Xu, D.(1996). “Delay estimation and optimal length for four-lane divided freeway workzones.” J. Transp. Eng., 122(2), 114–122.
McCoy, P. T., Pang, M., and Post, E. R. (1980). “Optimum length of two-lane two-way no-passing traffic operation in construction and maintenance zones on rural four-lane divided highways.” Transp. Res. Rec. 773, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 20–24.
McCoy, P. T., and Peterson, D. J. (1987). “Safety effects of two-lane two-way segment length through work zones on normally four-lane divided highways.” Trans. Res. Rec. 1163, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 15–21.
Memmott, J. L., and Dudek, C. L. (1984). “Queue and cost evaluation of work zones (QUEWZ).” Trans. Res. Rec. 979, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 12–19.
Pain, R. F., McGee, H. W., and Knapp, B. G. (1981). “Evaluation of traffic control for highway work zones.” National Cooperative High-way Research Program Rep. No. 236, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C.
Richard, S. H., and Dudek, C. L. (1986). “Implementation of work-zone speed control measures.” Trans. Res. Rec. 1086, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 36–42.
Rouphail, N. M., and Tiwari, G. (1985). “Flow characteristics at freeway lane closures.” Trans. Res. Rec. 1035, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 50–58.
Rouphail, N. M., Yang, Z. S., and Fazio, J. (1988). “Comparative study of short and long term urban freeway work zones.” Trans. Res. Rec. 1163, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 4–14.
Schonfeld, P., and Chien, S.(1999). “Optimal work zone lengths for two-lane highways.” J. Transp. Eng., 125(1), 21–29.
Underwood, C. (1994). “Time to re-cast the 1994/5 structure maintenance program.” Hwy. and Transp., 14–15.
Zhou, G. C. (1996). “Combined costs of vehicle user and maintenance operation in four-lane divided highways by simulation analysis,” Transp. Studies Ctr., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 128 • Issue 2 • March 2002
Pages: 145 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 13, 2000
Accepted: Jul 20, 2001
Published online: Mar 1, 2002
Published in print: Mar 2002
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.