Method for Estimating Capacity and Measures of Effectiveness of Two-Lane Highway Work Zones

The present study proposes a method for determining the capacity and measures of effectiveness of two-lane highway work zones. Therefore, a deterministic mathematical formulation was developed based on Queue Theory and on similarities with the queue discharge flow that occurs with the use of traffic lights, which allows for the estimation of measures of effectiveness such as delay time and platoon size. Equations were also developed to determine the capacity and the maximum length of the work zones based on acceptable values of the chosen measures of effectiveness. To validate the method, a set of traffic data collected along segments of a highway during the execution of construction works was used to calibrate and validate the traffic simulator Aimsun Next. With the simulator calibrated, a set of synthetic data was generated based on the simulation of different hypothetical scenarios, which served to obtain variables of the problem and to validate the proposed method. Finally, measures of effectiveness such as cycle time, platoon size, and delay time – obtained from the proposed mathematical model and the field – were compared, revealing that the model produced very satisfactory results.