From Tech Transfer Newsletter, Summer 2008 » printer-friendly

Resources from the Transportation Library: Traffic Control in Work Zones

By Rita Evans Reference Librarian, Institute of Transportation Studies Library

Reports, Articles, and a Fact Sheet

Work Zone Operations Best Practices Guidebook

• Lists best practices based on a work zone scanning tour of 26 states. Includes topical index and cross-references by location, project life cycle stage, type of organization, nature of work zone activity, and traffic conditions.

Traffic Control Handbook for Mobile Operations at Night: Guidelines for Construction, Maintenance and Utility Operations

• Provides a synthesis of current state practices for nighttime operations. Emphasizes that advance planning and adequate time to set up and remove temporary traffic control is essential.

Work Zone Traffic Control Guidelines

• Outlines traffic control guidelines to reduce highway workers' exposure to the hazards of traffic. Offers road users consistent guidance through work zone areas. Covers equipment, flagging, road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists, speed limits, closures, and short duration work zones.

Finding Solutions to Work-Zone Problems

• Looks at a variety of measures states are employing to improve work zone safety and mobility, including automated work zone information systems that provide real-time information to drivers approaching work zones.

Crashworthy Work-Zone Traffic Control Devices

• Reports on research to develop nonproprietary, crashworthy work-zone traffic control devices constructed of readily available materials.

Identification of Traffic Control Devices for Mobile and Short Duration Work Operations

• Assesses a wide variety of control devices. Includes table showing which work zone devices are effective in which situations. Lists guidelines to eliminate driver inattentiveness. Examines technologies to reduce crashes.

Design of Construction Work Zones on High-Speed Highways

• Provides guidelines for choosing an appropriate construction work zone type. Includes information on the design of geometric features, including horizontal and vertical alignment, cross-sectional features, and barrier placement.

Evaluation of the Late Merge Work Zone Traffic Control Strategy

• Reports that the late merge, where drivers are instructed to use all lanes to the merge point and then take turns proceeding through the work zone, can produce a statistically significant increase in throughput for 3-to-1 lane closures. Recommends development of a sound methodology for deployment before it is used.

Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones:A Case Study. Real-Time Work Zone Traffic Control System

• Reports on Illinois DOT's use of ITS on a major bridge and highway reconstruction project to reduce congestion and improve safety. A Real-Time Traffic Control System - comprising dynamic message signs, portable traffic sensors and portable closed-circuit television cameras linked via wireless communications - successfully monitored traffic with little downtime.

Caltrans Transportation Management Plans Reduce Work Zone Congestion - Fact Sheet

• Provides summary of how Caltrans uses three types of transportation management plans - Blanket, Minor and Major - based on project characteristics and projected delays. Categories of strategies include public information, incident management, construction strategies, demand management and alternate routes.

Training

Safety and Traffic Control Plans for Work Zones

Tech Transfer's hands-on training prepares road crews and supervisors to design and install traffic control plans and to safely operate work zones. This training incorporates Cal-OSHA requirements and the MUTCD and California Supplement. The low-cost, 4-hour workshop is held on-site at your agency and may be customized to meet your needs.

Multimedia Resources

The Technology Transfer Program's multimedia training library contains more than 700 videos, CD-ROMs, and links to streaming media to help educate you and your staff. Browse our selection at www.techtransfer.berkeley.edu/videos. The resources listed below are available from the video library.

• Advanced Warning (Flashing) Arrow Panels: Positive Guidance (VH-608)
• Barrier Delineation in Work Zones: The Well Defined Path (VH-609)
• Life in the Closed Lane (VH-613)
• Nighttime Traffic Control in Work Zones (VH-611)
• Reducing Tort Liability in California Work Zones (ST-740)
• Road Crew Safety: Safe Practices for Road Construction and Paving Crews (VH-407)
• Safety Made Simple: The ABC's of Work Zone Safety (VH-579)
• The Thin Orange Line (VH-612)

About the UC Berkeley Transportation Library

Most of the items listed in this article are available from the UC Berkeley Transportation Library. Visit library.its.berkeley.edu for more information about the library or to request access.

Employees of California public sector transportation agencies at the local, state, and regional levels, including federal agencies located in California, are eligible to request anything in the transportation library's catalog for free. The library will even provide up to 50 pages of photocopies of articles from journals, trade magazines, or conference reports, or scan and e-mail the requested material.

Top of Page

© 2009 Regents of the University of California