Final Report December 31, 2006
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Better Management of Speed Control in Work Zones Sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Transportation Final Report December 31, 2006 Research Contacts: Wayne Sarasua, Ph.D., P.E., Jennifer Ogle, Ph.D. and Mashrur Chowdhury, Ph.D., P.E. Transportation Systems Laboratory Department of Civil Engineering Lowry Hall, Box 340911 (864) 656-3318 William J. Davis, Ph.D., P.E. The Citadel The Citadel Department of Civil Engineering College of Engineering and Science Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina USA Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. FHWA-SC-06-10 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Better Management for Speed Control in Work Zones December 31, 2006 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. Wayne A. Sarasua, Jennifer H. Ogle, William J. Davis, and Mashrur Chowdhury 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Clemson University Transportation Systems Laboratory Department of Civil Engineering, Lowry Hall, Box 340911 11. Contract or Grant No. Clemson, South Carolina 29634-0911 SPR 658 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered South Carolina Department of Transportation Final Report P. O. Box 191 April 1, 2005 to December 31, 2006 Columbia, SC 29202-0191 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 15. Supplementary Notes Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. 16. Abstract Statistics from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) for incidents between 1998 and 2002 reveal that a leading cause of crashes in work zones is driving too fast for conditions. In April 2005, a team of researchers led by Clemson University’s Transportation Systems Laboratory embarked on research to better manage speed control in work zones. The research tasks included a literature review and survey of states. Based on the literature review and meetings with the project steering committee, a number of devices and strategies were selected for field evaluation. The devices selected were drone radar, changeable message sign with radar (CMR), a speed monitoring display (SMD) with CMS, portable rumble strips, and a novel speed activated sign designed by the researchers. Each of the devices had to be acquired and/or developed for this project and preliminary testing was conducted to identify an acceptable configuration for actual field data collection. After the initial testing, field surveillance of the speed management devices at a variety of different work zone sites on Interstate and State Route highways in South Carolina was done to collect the empirical data needed for evaluation. A statistical analysis of the empirical data was done to quantitatively evaluate the devices. A qualitative evaluation was done as well. Some of the devices were also studied in combination with police enforcement. The results of the analysis show that all of the speed control devices studied during this project has the capability of lowering speeds. This report summarizes the findings of this research and provides several recommendations in choosing a speed control device for a particular work zone application. 17. Key Word 18. Distribution Statement Work Zone Speed Control 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 110 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ vii CHAPTER CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1-1 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE .............................................................................2-1 Traffic Calming by Reducing Lane Width ..................................................................2-1 Drone Radar.................................................................................................................2-1 Northern Kentucky Study ........................................................................................2-3 Texas Study..............................................................................................................2-3 South Dakota DOT Study ........................................................................................2-4 Champaign, Illinois Study .......................................................................................2-4 Maryland Study........................................................................................................2-5 Missouri Study .........................................................................................................2-6 New Mexico Study ..................................................................................................2-7 University of Michigan Study..................................................................................2-7 Ohio Study ...............................................................................................................2-8 Virginia Tech Study................................................................................................2-8 Georgia Tech Study .................................................................................................2-9 Midwest Smart Work Zone Deployment Initiative Study .......................................2-9 Summary of Drone Radar ......................................................................................2-10 Determining Radar Detector Usage...........................................................................2-10 Insurance Institute of Highway Safety...................................................................2-11 Georgia Institute of Technology Research Institute ..............................................2-12 Changeable Message Signs........................................................................................2-13 Speed Monitoring Display.........................................................................................2-13 South Dakota Study ...............................................................................................2-14 Nebraska Study ......................................................................................................2-14 Kansas Study..........................................................................................................2-14 Changeable Message Signs with Radar.....................................................................2-15 Virginia Study, 1995..............................................................................................2-15 Virginia Study, 1998..............................................................................................2-16 South Dakota Study ...............................................................................................2-16 Georgia Study ........................................................................................................2-17 Vehicle Activated-Signs ............................................................................................2-17 i England Studies .....................................................................................................2-18 Wizard CB Alert System ...........................................................................................2-18 Iowa Study .............................................................................................................2-19 Texas Study............................................................................................................2-19 Temporary Rumble Strips..........................................................................................2-20 Texas Study............................................................................................................2-20 Additional Studies..................................................................................................2-21 Optical Speed Bars.....................................................................................................2-21 Scotland Study .......................................................................................................2-21 England Study........................................................................................................2-21 New Brunswick Study ...........................................................................................2-22 Police Enforcement....................................................................................................2-22 Summary of Literature Review..................................................................................2-23 CHAPTER 3 SPEED REDUCTION DEVICES AND FIELD CONFIGURATION..........................3-1 Drone Radar.................................................................................................................3-1 Changeable Message Sign with Radar.........................................................................3-2 Novel Speed-Activated Sign........................................................................................3-3 Speed Monitoring Display with CMS .........................................................................3-4 Portable