Impact of Mobile Work Zone Barriers on Driving Behavior on Arterial Roads

In the year 2015, in the United States, a work zone crash occurred once every 5.4 minutes, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Work zone barriers can help reduce the risk to the work crew as well as drivers by containing and redirecting vehicles, thereby minimizing the risk of vehicles entering work zones. In a first of a kind study on an arterial road, this study investigated the impact of work zone barriers (cone pylons, concrete jersey barriers, and metal barriers) on driver behavior; speeding and lateral movement, using a high fidelity driving simulator. Traffic volumes were based on Level of Service (LOS) C in which 53 individuals participated in the study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) test indicated that there was a statistically significant difference between mean vehicle speeds and mean vehicle deviation from the lane center while driving beside cone pylons, concrete jersey barriers, and metal barriers. An additional Tukey’s Post Hoc analysis disclosed that the difference in means is statistically significant only between cone pylons and concrete jersey barriers. The study results indicated that drivers tend to increase speed alongside concrete jersey barriers, which corresponds with prior research. An interesting observation was that drivers tend to deviate from the center of the lane, away from the barrier, while driving alongside concrete jersey barriers.