Evaluation of Cost-Effectiveness of Steady-Burn Warning Lights in Work Zones

The 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) recognizes the potential safety benefit of providing enhanced delineation on temporary traffic control (TTC) devices and allows for warning light enhancements on channelizing devices and temporary barrier walls. The argument for using warning lights in work zones is that they provide an incremental benefit to safety. Ideally, the additional costs of using warning lights should be offset by that safety benefit; in other words, the reduction in crash costs should equal or exceed the costs of the devices. In this study, the researchers collected and analyzed steady-burn warning light cost data, computed the crash cost increases that could be expected to occur in two types of work zones, and computed the crash cost reductions (i.e., safety benefits) that would have to occur by using the steady-burn warning lights in order to justify their use on a benefit-cost basis. Based on the results of this cost-effectiveness evaluation, the researchers recommended that the use of steady-burn warning lights in work zones be discontinued.