Dynamic Lane-Based Signal Merge Control for Freeway Work Zone Operations

Traditional merge control strategies cannot yield the expected effectiveness under heavy traffic conditions at freeway work zones because inevitable traffic conflicts resulting from complex merging and lane-changing maneuvers could increase the potential of traffic collisions, induce stop-and-go movements, and degrade the operational efficiency. This paper presents a dynamic control model to optimize the signal operations of a new merge system, the lane-based signal merge (LBSM), which uses lane-based signals or variable signs to give drivers in different lanes the right of way to proceed through the open lane(s) in a work zone area. The control objective is to maximize the work zone throughput. A genetic algorithm is employed to solve the model. Results reveal that the proposed method yields promising work zone operational performance under heavy traffic conditions.