• 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

Optimal Work Zone Lengths for Four-Lane Highways

Author/Presenter: Chien, Steven; Schonfeld, Paul
Abstract:

Highway pavement maintenance is very expensive not only in terms of costs to the responsible agencies but also in terms of disruptive delays to users. Construction and maintenance activities on four-lane highways (with two lanes in each direction) often require the closure of one of the two travel lanes. Longer work zones tend to increase the user delay costs. Maintenance work can be performed more efficiently, i.e., with fewer repeated setups, in longer zones. A relatively simple mathematical model is developed to optimize work zone lengths on four-lane highways where one lane in one direction at a time is closed. The objective is to minimize the total cost, including the agency cost, the accident cost, and the user delay cost. The optimized variable (e.g. work zone length) and the sensitivity results generated from a numerical example are presented in this study. With user-specified input parameters, this model can be used to optimize work zones on four-lane highways for a wide variety of circumstances.

Source: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume: 127
Issue: 2
Publication Date: April 2001
Source URL: Link to URL
Publication Types: Books, Reports, Papers, and Research Articles
Topics: Lane Closure; Length; Mathematical Models; Traffic Delays; Work Zones

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