• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Logo

Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse

Library of Resources to Improve Roadway Work Zone Safety for All Roadway Users

  • About
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
  • X
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Work Zone Data
    • At a Glance
    • National & State Traffic Data
    • Work Zone Traffic Crash Trends and Statistics
    • Worker Fatalities and Injuries at Road Construction Sites
  • Topics of Interest
    • Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
    • Smart Work Zones
    • Work Zone Safety and MobilityTransportation Management Plans
    • Accommodating Pedestrians
    • Worker Safety and Welfare
    • Project Coordination in Work Zones
  • Training
    • Online Courses
    • FHWA Safety Grant Products
    • Toolboxes
    • Flagger
    • Certification and
      Accreditation
  • Work Zone Devices
  • Laws, Standards & Policies
  • Public Awareness
  • About
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Search
Publication

Enhanced Analysis of Work Zone Safety Through Integration of Statewide Crash Data with Lane Closure System Data

Author/Presenter: Cheng, Yang; Parker, Steven; Ran, Bin; Noyce, David A.
Abstract:

Effective work zone safety analysis requires consideration of a variety of data sources including the frequency of crashes in and around a work zone, driver and environmental factors, and work zone characteristics. Fundamental to this analysis is the ability to match crashes to work zones. The traditional approach in Wisconsin, as in many states, has relied on a construction zone flag in the police crash report and targeted work zone studies. The crash report provides a macroscopic level of work zone crashes but does not provide details about the work zones themselves, except when noted in the officer’s narrative description. Targeted work zone studies provide a wealth of information for specific work zones, but are limited in number and scope.

The Wisconsin Lane Closure System (WisLCS), a centralized scheduling and reporting system for highway lane closures statewide, provides a new opportunity to match crashes to specific work zones on a system-wide level. This paper investigates the ability to match hand-mapped highway crashes from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) to WisLCS lane closure records. The underlying methodology is based on the WisDOT State Trunk Network (STN) linear referencing system, which provides a common GIS network for both data sets. A preliminary analysis of work zone safety based on WisLCS closure attributes is presented. Although the methodology introduced is specific to these two databases, the general ideas can be applied to any similar sets of crash and work zone systems.

Source: Presented at the 91st Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, January 2012, Washington, D.C.
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Publication Date: 2012
Full Text URL: Link to URL
Publication Types: Books, Reports, Papers, and Research Articles
Topics: Crash Data; Lane Closure; Work Zone Safety

Copyright © 2025 American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA). The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse is a project of the ARTBA Transportation Development Foundation. It is operated in cooperation with the U.S. Federal Highway Administration and Texas A&M Transportation Institute. | Copyright Statement · Privacy Policy · Disclaimer
American Road and Transportation Builders Association Transportation Development Foundation, American Road and Transportation Builders Association U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Texas A&M Transportation Institute