Allowing work zone staging changes (making the changes of the work zone traffic control setup) at night on high-volume, urban freeways

Georgia DOT makes almost all of the traffic shifts in urban areas at night or on weekends. This has been a common practice for Metro Atlanta for more than 20 years. This type of approach provides the maximum window for accomplishing the staging change. Because peak-hour traffic volumes are large, especially in Metro Atlanta and most of north Georgia, contractors have adapted and now prefer this type of work scheduling because it allows for productivity.
GDOT heavily promotes any traffic changes in the media. Motorists have been very responsive and appreciative of GDOT efforts to making most of the changes during off-peak hours. Unfortunately, because of the rapid growth in the Metro Atlanta area, the window that can be called off-peak is rapidly getting smaller.