Design of Lane Merges at Rural Freeway Construction Work Zones [Final Report]

Details

• Creators:
  Wolshon, Brian ; Ishak, Sherif ; Idewu, Wakeel
• Corporate Creators:
  Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, La.). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Work zone traffic control
  • Work zones
  • Merging traffic
  • Lane changing
  • Highway operations
  • Merging area
  • Freeways
  • Lane drops
  • Traffic flow Road work zones--Safety measures
  • Traffic flow--Research
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/LA.11/484
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Louisiana
• Edition:
  Final report.
• Corporate Publisher:
  Louisiana. Dept. of Transportation and Development
• Abstract:
  Practices for the design and control of work zone traffic control configurations have evolved over time ; to reflect safer and more efficient management practices. However, they are also recognized as areas ; of frequent vehicle conflicts that can cause congestion and safety problems. In this research, a new ; design has been developed that could lessen some of these detrimental effects. This new concept, ; known as the “joint merge,” simultaneously merges two lanes into one. The key feature of the design ; is its two-sided taper in which the two adjacent lanes approaching a lane reduction are simultaneously ; tapered into a single lane with neither lane having a priority. This is theorized to influence drivers into ; merging in a smooth alternating pattern. To evaluate its operational effects, the joint merge was ; examined in a work zone in Louisiana and compared to an MUTCD conventional merge configuration ; at the same site. Lane-specific volume and vehicle speeds were collected in the field and the two ; designs were compared using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and T-test statistical procedures. ; Overall, the joint merge was found to increase the efficiency of the closed lane and encourage the use ; of both lanes into the work zone entrance. It was also found that the number of lane changes during low ; and high-volume periods decreased when the joint merge configuration was used. While no conclusive ; findings could be made relative to its specific effect on capacity, video recordings and lane usage data ; suggested that the joint merge strategy was understood and well received by most drivers.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/25470/dot_25470_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 3.11 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6bac59c0d592ea4a801bf0245935755d52e2837c62f324c58ec68bce025d656e7bee81afff01417682f222470693b61e818d2efe2e56a40b8a5c6ba8f60aafeb