Evaluating Strategies for Work Zone Transportation Management Plans (2020)

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7 2.0 TMP Strategy Guidebook Although there is a wealth of information, it is scattered among published research, DOT handbooks, manuals, plans, as well as unpublished documentation. This project developed a TPM Strategy Guidebook, a resource that synthesizes useful knowledge from all these diverse sources to create a work zone guidebook. The guidebook provides a compendium of current knowledge on work zone strategies, including suggestions on when to use, benefits, effectiveness, technical issues, design requirements, state of the practice, and cost. The guidebook is published as NCHRP Research Report 945 and is available on the TRB website. 2.1. Guidebook Contents and Organization Many work zone management strategies can be used to minimize traffic delays, improve mobility, maintain or improve motorist and worker safety, and complete roadwork in a timely manner. The strategies presented and reviewed in the guidebook are grouped according to the FHWA TMP classification under the following categories: 1. TO — Work zone safety management strategies — Corridor/network management (traffic operations) strategies — Traffic/incident management and enforcement strategies — Demand management strategies 2. TTC — Control strategies — Project coordination — Alternative contracting and construction strategies — Traffic control devices (TCD) 3. Public awareness — Motorist information strategies — Public awareness strategies The guidebook devotes a section to each of the above-cited major categories. Figure 1 shows how the strategies are grouped to help users find relevant practices. The entry for each strategy includes: • Description. Provides short overview and description. • When to Use. Discusses conditions for use. • Benefits. Discusses typical strategy benefits in terms of improving safety and/or mobility. • Expected Effectiveness. Describes known effectiveness based on field studies.

8 • Crash Modification Factor (CMF). Presents estimated and known CMFs based on information presented in NCHRP Report 869 (1). • Implementation Considerations. Discusses how the strategy functions and if there are any installation concerns, potential difficulties, maintenance issues, etc. • Design Features / Requirements. Provides information on the appropriate design criteria, and hardware and software requirements if any. • State of the Practice. Provides examples where a strategy has been used with special provisions and standard typical drawings, as applicable. • Cost. Reviews estimated installation cost. • Resources. Presents related resources and cited materials. In addition to the category and subcategory designations, strategies are cross-referenced as shown in Appendix B. The cross-references allow practitioners to identify these strategies based on traffic conditions in the work zone, the type of roadway involved, geographic or demographic characteristics, and when in the project life-cycle stage, they are used. Another category—best practices—was introduced to account for those strategies that do not have a measurable value for effectiveness. The best practices include emerging technologies, decision-making tools, case studies and successful policies and procedures of few state DOTs.

9 Figure 1. Guidebook strategy organization.