# Presentation: 764133

## Slide 1

## Slide 2

## “Meeting the Customer’s Needs for                                                              Mobility & Safety 

**During **
**Construction & Maintenance Operations”**

## “It is the sense of Congress that many highway projects are carried out in a way which unnecessarily disrupts traffic flow during construction and that methods need to be adopted to eliminate or reduce these disruptions.”				

***Section 1090 ISTEA***

## Only 29% of respondents were satisfied with traffic flow through Work Zones 
The other 71% weren’t!

**The other 71% weren’t!**

**NQI Survey**

## “The public is not satisfied with the status quo.  They’re tired of the way we’ve always done it.” 

** ****... ****State DOT Executive**** **

**WZ Fatalities/Injuries (1996)**
**719 fatalities ***
**133 worker fatalities ***
**37,000+ injuries**
*** NHTSA’s FARS data**

**Safety**

## Delay in WZs

**Motorist**
**No quantifiable statistics on an areawide or statewide basis**
**Economic losses**
**No quantified data on a national or regional basis**

## Meets Three of FHWA’s Strategic Goals

**Mobility**
**Safety**
**Productivity**

## Our Vision

**"No Delays and No Crashes in Work Zones."**

## Organizations Scanned

**26 State DOTs**
**4 Cities**
**2 Counties**
**7 Contractor Associations**
**3 Equipment Manufacturers**
**5 Toll Authorities**
**Others (State Police, GHSRs, AAA,                                                                                                                          Trucking Associations, etc.)**

## Expectations of FHWA

**Technology Sharing**
**Public Education**
**Continuous Quality Improvement**
**Coordinate Research**
**Standardization**
**Partnerships**

## FHWA’s Review of WZs

**State of the practice**
**State of the art**
**Model traffic management program **
**Benchmark our future actions**
**Best practices/policies (250+)**
**Menu of practical measures**

## Why Do We Need To Change?

**What Is The Urgency?**

## Work Zone Fatalities (NHTSA’s FARS data)

## WZ Crashes

**Majority occur:**
**Beginning of the queue**
**In the transition zone**
**Caused by:**
**Excessive speed**
**Driver inattention**

## Why We Must Change!

**TEA-21 => 40% increase in funding**
**Volume of traffic increasing**
**Highway system aging**
**Public demanding virtually unlimited mobility**

## Alternative is Unacceptable!

**Significant increases in:**
**WZ crashes, disabling injuries and fatalities**
**Highway worker injuries and fatalities**
**Motorist’s delay in WZs**
**Cost of goods**

## Straight Line Projection

**33% increase in number of WZs, resulting in:**
**240 more people killed**
**12,333 more disabling injuries**
**44 more highway workers killed**

## Q. What’s the public’s biggest complaint?

**A. The lane is closed and there’s no work going on!**

## The Public Wants Us To

** ****Get In!**
**Do It Right!**
** ****Get Out!**
** ****Stay Out!**

## Ways to Reduce Exposure

**Reduce:**
**Volume of traffic in WZ**
**Time WZ is in place**
**Number of WZs**

## Reduce Volume of Traffic in the WZ

**Closing the facility**
**Diverting to other routes**
**Diverting to other modes**
**Spreading out peak hour volume**

## Reduce the Volume of Traffic in the WZ

**Boston’s Central Artery Tunnel**
**Utah’s I-15 Reconstruction**
**Washington/Oregon I-5 Bridge Repair**
**Advance information (“SmartWorkZone,” “Adaptir,” and Travel Time Prediction System**

## “Maybe we’re doing the public a disservice by not closing down the road to do the work.” 

**...State DOT Executive**** **

## Reduce the Time the WZ is in Place

**Time-based bidding (A+B, I/D, Lane Rental, etc.)**
**Variable start dates**
**Window specs**
**CPM to establish, manage, and monitor contract time**

## Reduce the Time the WZ is in Place 

**Washington’s I-405 Resurfacing**
**Florida’s Innovative Contracting**
**Utah’s Use of Contractor TCPs**
**Maryland’s Constructibility Review**
**Pennsylvania Turnpike Authority’s two shift requirement**

## Reduce the Number of WZs 

**Improved designs**
**Longer-lasting products & materials**
**Performance-based specs**
**Warranty specs**
**Preventive maintenance program**
**Corridor traffic management**

## Reduce the Number of WZs

**Colorado’s I-25 Reconstruction**
**California’s I-5 Corridor Reconstruction**
**IDOT’s Combining of Projects**

## 11 Major Areas

**Traffic Management vs. Traffic Control**
**Prediction Modeling & Impact Analysis**
**Commitment of Top Management**
**Traveler & Traffic Information Programs**

## “To the public the worst thing is being delayed.  The second worst thing is not knowing why they’re being delayed.”

**...  ****State DOT ****Executive**** **

## 11 Major Areas

**Traffic Management vs. Traffic Control**
**Prediction Modeling & Impact Analysis**
**Commitment of Top Management**
**Traveler & Traffic Information Programs**
**Development of TMPs & TCPs**

## Degree of Influence on Reducing WZ Delay and Enhancing Safety

**Degree of Influence on Reducing WZ Delay and Enhancing Safety**

**Policy****	****      Planning****	****    Design ****	****Construction****	**

**High**

**Low**

## Philosophy

**A typical DOT designs the project, then figures out the best way to handle the traffic.****	**

**A typical Toll Authority figures out the best way to handle the traffic, then designs the project around the traffic.**

## 11 Major Areas

**Traffic Management vs. Traffic Control**
**Prediction Modeling & Impact Analysis**
**Commitment of Top Management**
**Traveler & Traffic Information Programs**
**Development of TMPs & TCPs**
**Contracting & Bidding Procedures**

## Contractors are in business to make money!

**State Highway Agencies**
**are in business to serve **
**the public by getting **
**projects built!**

## Quality, high-performing project, that minimizes delay and disruption to the traveling public, and which ensures a reasonable profit to the contractor.

**Goal**

## “We would much rather chase a carrot than run from a stick.” 

**...Contractor **

## 11 Major Areas (cont’d)

**Specifications and Construction Materials, Methods, & Practices**
**ITS & Innovative Technologies**
**Enforcement**
**Public Relations, Education, and Outreach**
**Evaluation & Feedback**

## Info to public
Constructibility
Contractor TCPs
Night work
State Police

**Constructibility**
**Contractor TCPs**
**Night work**
**State Police**

**Other Observations**

## Other Initiatives 

**NJ’s Dedicated Trooper Unit**
**NY State’s WZ Crash Analysis**
**NC’s WZ Info Unit**
**NAPA’s, Caltrans’, IDOT’s, WashDOT’s Workshops**
**ARTBA/FHWA sponsored National WZ Safety Information Clearinghouse (NWSIC)**

## What the public experiences in the WZ is how they judge the highway community!

## Industry
State DOTs
FHWA
Others

**State DOTs**
**FHWA**
**Others**

**Partnership**

## What Can You Do?

**Some suggestions:**
**Don’t accept what we’ve always done**
**Customer perspective**
**Work to reduce exposure**
**Only take lane when needed**
**Commit to “Truth in signing”**

## Where Do We Go From Here?

**Some suggestions:**
**Joint benchmarking**
**Identify joint WZ initiatives**
**Set WZ performance goals**
**Set up team to look at WZ policies and/or specs**

## Slide 46

## More Info

**Main Report ****(Adobe Acrobat****)****  **
***www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/bestprac.pdf***
**250+ Best Practices**
***www.fhwa.dot.gov/quality/bestprac2.htm***
**NWZSIC**
***wzsafety.tamu.edu***
***or Ph. 1-888-447-5556***