Meeting the Customers’ Needs for Safer, Smoother Roads

To look at how road maintenance and rehabilitation projects can be accomplished more quickly and efficiently, and to better address the problems of traffic disruption and work zone safety, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) conducted a national quality improvement review. The review team met with 26 State highway agencies, as well as local transportation departments and industry and user groups. Areas reviewed included work zone traffic control plans, materials selection, contracting procedures, and the level of public participation in traffic management policies and decisions. This article summarizes a number of best practices that State and local highway agencies are using across the country to improve their maintenance operations. More information on the best practices identified by the review team is documented in the team’s report, Meeting the Customer’s Needs for Mobility and Safety During Construction and Maintenance Operations. The lessons learned from FHWA’s review are being incorporated into a new program called “Optimizing Highway Performance: Meeting the Customers’ Needs.”