Michigan is a geographically diverse state with some metropolitan or urban centers and vast rural areas that attract recreational and tourist activities. Each of the State’s seven MDOT regions present unique incident management challenges as well as a broad range of impacts to traffic flow during planned and unplanned events. In an effort to provide a framework that can address these traffic flow challenges during freeway road closures the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) identified the need for a manual to document a consistent statewide strategy for emergency rerouting identification for reference by all regions in Michigan. A few MDOT regions currently have emergency rerouting plans in place; however, some of the existing plans have not been reviewed or revised since they were originally developed. There are few standard processes for defining and documenting emergency alternate routes. A statewide manual would help support regions in updating or establishing a documented set of practices for maintaining emergency rerouting plans. MDOT identified a desire to research different practices other states are using for emergency reroute planning to identify strong examples for reference. The research effort was intended to combine feedback from Michigan stakeholders with the key findings, lessons learned, and experiences from other states to create a standard, statewide practice for developing emergency reroutes. The manual is a tool summarizing recommendations that stakeholders can take forward during the development and implementation of emergency reroutes on a regional level. With the diversity of Michigan’s regions, it was recognized that a “one size fits all” approach would not be feasible; rather, regions would need to adapt emergency rerouting plans to the specific agencies, partnerships, and roadway networks within their respective regions. (Author/publisher) For other reports/appendices in this research project, see http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,4616,7-151-9622_11045_24249-288495--,00…
Samenvatting