Understanding Traffic Flow Characteristics and Capacity of Linear Multi-work Zones on the Urban Arterial Road

It is quite common that several construction projects are implemented synchronously on the urban arterial roads of many large cities in China. Unfortunately, despite the popularity and prevalence of these multi-work zones, there does not exist any technical/design standards for this type of work zones. In this paper, based upon the spatial relationships, the authors define linear multi-work zones as work zones that are arranged along the longitudinal direction of an urban arterial road. Traffic operation and capacity of linear multi-work zones are analyzed and discussed. By taking advantage of traffic data from the linear multi-work zones with intersections in Zhengzhou city, the impact of traffic operational characteristics including traffic volume, travel speed and vehicle headway is examined. The authors further develop a speed-flow relationship model for linear multi-work zones with intersections. The model suggests that difference in length between work zones and distance from intersections are two important factors affecting the travel speed and traffic flow. As for linear multi-work zones without intersections, VISSIM simulation is utilized. The simulation results indicate that distance between work zones and speed distribution greatly impact the total capacity.