Work Zone Mobility and Safety Program
Photo collage: temporary lane closure, road marking installation, cone with mounted warning light, and drum separated work zones.
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Work Zone and Traffic Analysis

Work Zone & Traffic Analysis/Management

Understanding the anticipated type, severity, and extent of work zone impacts associated with various project alternatives facilitates the incorporation of appropriate mitigation measures and strategies in project programming, design, and in the development of effective transportation management plans (TMPs).

Analysis of the work zone may include consideration of items such as the following:

  • Mobility and safety impacts of the project at both the corridor and network levels to include parallel corridors, alternate routes, the transportation network and other modes of transportation.
  • The combined impacts of concurrent projects that are located near each other or on the alternate route for another project.
  • Impacts on nearby intersections and interchanges, railroad crossings, and public transit and other junctions in the network.
  • Impacts on evacuation routes.
  • Impacts on affected public property (parks, recreational facilities, fire stations, etc.)
  • Impacts on affected businesses and residences.

Analysis may necessitate the use of analytical tools, depending on the degree of analysis required. Some tools, such as QuickZone and CA4PRS, were designed for work zone related analysis. Other traffic analysis tools that were not designed specifically for work zones may also be useful for analyzing work zone situations.

Examples of Agency Work Zone And Traffic Analysis

  • Examples of Assessing and Managing Work Zone Impacts
  • New 10/14/08 Oregon DOT's Work Zone Traffic Analysis Methodology (PDF 7.5MB) - This presentation, given at the 2008 North American Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NATMEC), describes the Oregon DOT's (ODOT) methodology for estimating and managing project and corridor work zone delays. The methodology is designed to predict the hours of the day during which lanes or shoulders within work zones can be safely closed, and the approximate queue length that would develop during such closures.
  • Florida DOT (FDOT) Report BD545-61: Impact of Lane Closures on Roadway Capacity - This three part report describes research to develop new models for planning lane closures on two-lane and arterial roadways.
  • Impact of Trucks on Arterial LOS and Freeway Work Zone Capacity (Part B: Freeway Work Zone Capacity) (PDF 526KB) - This report, developed by the University of Florida for the Florida Department of Transportation, describes the results of a study to develop analytical models and procedures for estimating the capacity of a freeway work zone considering various parameters.
  • Rapid Pavement Construction Tools, Materials, and Methods (PDF 7.97MB) - This report, developed by the Washington State Department of Transportation, explores the implementation, use, and experience with CA4PRS (Construction Alternatives for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies), portland cement concrete pavement panel replacement, polymer concrete, and traffic closure windows in terms of rapid pavement construction.

Tools and Resources

Work Zone Traffic Analysis Strategies

  • Webinar on Work Zone Traffic Analysis Strategies - This FHWA/National Transportation Operations Coalition webinar (July 9, 2008) covered perspectives on work zone traffic analysis strategies, a process for integrating traffic analyses into work zone decisionmaking, and issues in work zone traffic analysis. Selected case study examples were used to show how some agencies and jurisdictions have incorporated work zone modeling into their decisionmaking process and the impact these analyses are making in improving work zone planning and operations.

QuickZone (Traffic Impact Analysis) Tool

QuickZone is a traffic impact analysis tool that can be used to estimate work zone delays. For example, QuickZone allows road owners and contractors to compare the effects of doing highway work at night instead of during the day, or of diverting the traffic to different roads at various stages of construction. These effects can be estimated for periods as short as one hour or for the entire life of the construction project.

Construction Analysis for Pavement Rehabilitation Strategies (CA4PRS)

CA4PRS is a software tool that supports the integrated analysis of project alternatives for different pavement design, construction logistics, and traffic operations options. It was designed to help state highway agencies and paving contractors develop construction schedules that minimize traffic delay, extend the service life of pavement, and reduce agency costs.

Dynasmart-P

Dynasmart-P is a dynamic traffic assignment analysis tool that can be used to support decision making for regional work zone management.

Additional Resources

  • FHWA Traffic Analysis Tools Program
  • New Jersey DOT Road User Cost Manual - This manual describes work zone and traffic characteristics, explains the possible work zone related road user cost components that can occur, and provides a step by step procedure to determine road user costs. Example problems, default hourly traffic percentages, and computation worksheets are also provided to with road user cost computations.
  • Determining the Major Causes of Highway Work Zone Accidents in Kansas - These reports explore the characteristics of injury crashes in highway work zones in Kansas, examines risk factors that contributed to the injury crashes, and compares characteristics between fatal and injury crashes in highway work zones in order to help develop and implement effective countermeasures.

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