This paper discusses how to make road maintenance on Dutch motorways better and safer, by using traffic control and guidance systems and other measures, without seriously disturbing traffic flow. During the 1980s, the reconstruction and maintenance of existing roads became more important. From 1983 on, the Dutch Transportation and Traffic Research Division has recorded motorway queues on a database. This enables times to be identified when queues are less serious, and permits the contributions of possible causes of queues to be studied. As a result, maintenance work was rescheduled, so that the queues at road works fell dramatically, but, in 1991, they increased slightly. It was found that doing maintenance work found that doing maintenance work during the night was not a long-term solution. For several years, advance publicity has been given about road works, and information about them can be obtained from a special telephone number. Rules and guidelines for the layout of work zones were fairly recently redrafted. New techniques and materials will simplify the installation and removal of work zones. A mobile road signing system has been developed, but further research is still needed on traffic control equipment for use with road works.
Abstract