Work zone safety remains an important issue because of limited knowledge of the causes of crashes, their relationship to characteristics of the zone, and effectiveness of countermeasures. Based on a study conducted for the lllinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), this paper introduces a model to gather, process, and continuously use information during the life of a work zone for safety enhancement. The model develops preconstruction work zone crash and exposure measures and formulates recommendations to evaluate safety measures during the planning and designing stages; monitors work zone safety performance and configuration on an ongoing basis; and performs early analysis of work zone crashes to support rapid selection and deployment of countermeasures. Responsibility is centred in a small task force, which integrates multiple perspectives to assure work zone safety. This approach is designed to systematically use information collected at individual work zones to assess, diagnose, and improve safety. (A)
Samenvatting