Complex Work Zone Safety

During the past several years, the continuous industrial development in Texas, as well as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), led to a population increase and a significant growth of freight movements through Texas. This caused an overload of the existing highway network in many Texas regions and in turn necessitated alterations and improvements to bring the transportation system up to date. Numerous work zones currently cause significant changes in traffic operation and safety. The present research was focused on identifying existing problems and developing recommendations that better address complex work zone traffic control situations as an overall system. An extended literature review regarding different impacts of complex work zones on traffic operation and safety allowed for determination of the most frequent types of accidents and the major contributing factors. The researchers analyze different work zone designs from safety and operational perspectives, and compare the obtained findings with current design standards. Studies of drivers’ behavior and reactions at different workloads were conducted. Improvement solutions were identified, and recommendations for complex work zone traffic control plan designs were developed.