Making Work Zones Work Better

Work Zone Challenges

Work zones are a necessary part of meeting the need to maintain and upgrade our aging highway infrastructure. As much of our nation’s transportation infrastructure approaches the end of its service life, preservation, rehabilitation, and maintenance will become an increasing part of our transportation improvement program. At the same time, traffic continues to grow and create more congestion. The combination of more work zones and heavier traffic volumes will result in more impacts from those work zones. The American public, during a recent national survey, cited work zones as second only to poor traffic flow in causing traveler dissatisfaction. The top improvements suggested relate to roadway repairs and work zones: more durable paving materials, repairs made during non-rush hours, and reducing repair time. Further, the contracting industry is under pressure to expedite construction and minimize disruption.

Why We Are Concerned

Unlike congestion caused by routine heavy traffic during daily peak travel periods, non-recurring events generally result in delays that travelers are not expecting. The four main causes of non-recurring congestion are: crashes, weather, work zones, and breakdowns. Work zones account for nearly 24 percent of non-recurring congestion. This is 482 million vehicle hours of delay.

Work zones continue to have adverse impacts on traveler and worker safety. Work zone fatalities reached a high of 1,079 in 2001, and over 40,000 people are injured in work zone related crashes each year.

Increasing amounts of funding are being spent on capital improvements and maintaining existing roads. In 2000, 54 percent of highway capital outlay was spent on system preservation.

As vehicle travel continues to increase significantly faster than miles of roadway, work zones exacerbate the growing congestion problem. Between 1980 and 2000, highway lane miles increased 2.4 percent while vehicle miles of travel grew by 80 percent.

The effects of congestion are growing. Rush “hour” is no longer an hour. In 1982, rush “hour” averaged 2-3 hours, and in 1999, rush “hour” increased to 5-6 hours. The window to work without severely impacting traffic is getting smaller. The trend is more work under heavy traffic with no end in sight.

What We’ve Learned

Data from selected State DOT Web sites show that 20 percent of the National Highway System (NHS) is under construction in the summer and about 7 percent during the winter months. The total number of work zones in the summer is estimated at 6,472 with a corresponding drop in lost capacity from work zones of 6,157 lane miles of freeway. Work zones in the winter are about one-half of those in the summer.

Increasingly, high traffic volumes on many highways make it difficult to perform work operations in or near travel lanes during much of the day because of the disruption in traffic flow and the risk this introduces for workers and the traveling public. As a result, highway work is increasingly scheduled for off-peak periods. About one-third of work zones are active primarily at night.

A review of state road closure and construction Web sites revealed that project characteristics set early in the planning process that are unlikely to change—such as project location, purpose, and overall project duration—are most likely to be posted. Information of greatest interest to the traveling public—such as number of lanes closed, times of closure, and estimated delay—is less frequently reported, between 7 and 22 percent of the time.

Future Directions in Work Zone Mobility and Safety

The FHWA has defined “Vital Few” priority areas for attention and near-term action. These priority areas include congestion mitigation and safety. Reducing work zone delay by aggressively anticipating and mitigating congestion caused by highway work zones is one area that can be influenced to have a positive impact on relieving congestion. Real solutions come from a fundamental change in the way projects are planned, estimated, designed, bid, and, finally, constructed. A comprehensive approach to work zone management that includes policies, impacts analysis, and transportation management plans supports FHWA’s vision of 21st Century Operations using 21st Century Technologies by proactively utilizing work zone impacts, serving the customer 24/7, and making use of real-time information on work zones. The FHWA is championing three major shifts in the approach to work zones built from the 21st-century philosophy. If implemented, these changes can reduce congestion and crashes in and around work zones.

Develop State and Local Policies That Promote Effective Work Zone Strategies

Work zone safety and mobility policies are necessary to support systematic consideration of work zone impacts across all stages of project development and address the safety and mobility needs of all road users, workers, and other affected parties.

• FHWA provided a self-assessment tool. In 2003 each state conducted a work zone self-assessment to establish a baseline of the current state of the practice and identify future work zone quality improvement efforts.

Conduct a Work Zone Impact Analysis to Determine Appropriate Mitigation Measures

Impact analysis is necessary to understand the type, severity, and extent of the work zone impacts associated with the different project alternatives and to incorporate appropriate mitigation measures and strategies in project design, construction, transportation management and operations, and traffic control.

• FHWA developed “QuickZone,” a work zone impact analysis tool. It estimates costs for both an average day of work and for the whole life cycle of construction and can help the user determine what times of day and what times of the year are best for a certain project.

Develop Transportation Management Plans That Include Traffic Control, Transportation Operations, and Public Information and Outreach

Traffic control plans recommend strategies to safely and efficiently handle traffic flow through the actual work zone. Transportation operations plans address the safety and mobility of the transportation system by identifying strategies for the sustained operation and management of the work zone impact area. Public information and outreach communicates information about the project and expected impacts to affected road users, the general public, residences and businesses, and the appropriate public entities.

• FHWA promotes using Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies in and around work zones to mitigate impacts of work zones. FHWA published the ITS and Work Zone Case Study that discusses the application of ITS in work zones in four locations. Benefits and lessons learned are identified. In 2003, FHWA plans to publish an ITS in work zones implementation guide and detailed case studies.
• FHWA findings show the use of full road closure during rehabilitation can reduce both work zone congestion and crashes. In these projects, the roadway is closed, traffic re-routed, and the contractor given full access to the roadway with the expectation that construction time will be dramatically reduced. In 2003, FHWA plans to publish a series of documents highlighting the use of full closure, including benefits and lessons learned from six locations.
• FHWA recently published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes changes that could alter the way state and local government agencies approach consideration of work zone impacts.

Other Office of Operations initiatives underway include:

• Work Zone Best Practices Guidebook shares highway community success stories/lessons learned with practitioners. Best practices covered include policy/procedures, public outreach, contracting, construction methods, enforcement, and ITS.
• The FHWA, with state and local partners, is sponsoring "Making Work Zones Work Better" workshops to share information on new and emerging technologies and practices focused on reducing congestion and crashes in and around work zones.

As a part of the Congestion Vital Few, the FHWA is committed to reducing congestion and crashes in and around work zones. We continue to work with state and local governments, other federal agencies, transportation officials, partner organizations, contractors, and others to make work zones work better and raise the bar for work zone safety and mobility.