• 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
  • Join Listserv
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • 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
    • Transportation Management Plans
    • Accommodating Pedestrians
    • Worker Safety and Welfare
    • Project Coordination in Work Zones
  • Training
    • Flagger
    • Online Courses
    • Toolboxes
    • FHWA Safety Grant Products
    • Certification and
      Accreditation
  • Work Zone Devices
  • Laws, Standards & Policies
    • COVID-19 Guidance
  • Public Awareness
  • Events
  • About
  • Listserv
  • Contact
  • Search
Publication

Public Information Activities to Mitigate the Impacts of Closing San Francisco’s Central Freeway

Author/Presenter: Billheimer, John W.; McNally, Juliet; Sibley, Doug; Robbins, Gerald
Abstract:

San Francisco’s Central Freeway, which carried 93,000 commuters a day over Market Street into the Hayes Valley/Western Addition neighborhood, was shut down on August 25, 1996, so the freeway’s upper deck could be demolished as a first step in improving the seismic safety of the structure. Anticipating disastrous traffic tie-ups, local newspapers characterized the construction period in advance as “six months of traffic hell.” In an effort to mitigate the effects of the closure, the California Department of Transportation and the city of San Francisco developed a mitigation plan and implemented a wide ranging public information program that included direct mailings of brochures detailing alternative travel patterns to commuters observed using the freeway. On the first day after the closure, the media braced for disaster and sent reporters to cover the expected traffic jams. When none occurred, the absence of backups became news, and politicians questioned whether the freeway was really needed. Commuters had heeded the advice of the public information campaign and spread themselves over enough routes and modes to avert large-scale delays. However, the diverted traffic brought additional congestion, delays, and potentially more accidents to the city streets in the vicinity of the freeway. The traffic patterns before and after closure are documented here, and the effectiveness of the public information program in influencing these patterns is assessed.

Source: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Volume: 1632
Issue: 1
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
Publication Date: January 1, 1998
Source URL: Link to URL
Publication Types: Books, Reports, Papers, and Research Articles
Topics: Road Closure; Safety Campaigns

Copyright © 2023 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