Analysis of Crashes at Active Night Work Zones in Texas

In this paper, researchers present an analysis of the safety effects of night work activity upon crashes at two types of construction projects in Texas. The first project type involved both day and night work (and thus was referred to as a hybrid project), whereas the other project type involved pavement resurfacing activities performed only at night. Researchers determined the change in crash likelihood during periods of active night work, active day work (if applicable), and during times of work inactivity day and night. Generally speaking, researchers found that crashes increased more significantly during periods of work activity than during periods when the work zone was inactive. Overall, the increase during work activity was somewhat higher at night than during the day. Of course, the daytime work periods did not involve lane closures as did night work periods, and so a larger increase in crashes at night was to be expected. Researchers also found that crashes increased more at night than during the day at the hybrid projects even when the work zone was inactive, presumably reflecting a disproportionate influence of the temporary geometrics and traffic control upon nighttime travel at these sites. The sample sizes for the resurfacing projects were too small to draw significant conclusions. However, the trend with regards to the influence of night work activity was similar to that of the hybrid projects.