Brian Kary Minnesota Department of Transportation

Regional Transportation Management Center Shared Operations Center – MnDOT Traffic Operations – MnDOT Maintenance Dispatch – State Patrol Dispatch 400 miles of freeway management system – Cameras – Changeable Message Signs – Freeway Service Patrol 10-year Anniversary

MnPASS System High Occupancy Toll Lanes Provide for faster, safer and more reliable travel options Travel benefits for transit, carpoolers, motorcycles and MnPASS customers

I-35W: The 21 ST Century Highway –Expanded MnPASS System –Smart Lanes –Priced Dynamic Shoulder Lane –Bus Rapid Transit and Stations –Integrated Park and Rides –Low cost/high benefit capacity

I-35W Smart Lanes

Intelligent Lane Control Signals (ILCS) located every ½ mile over every lane. A total of 297 ILCS. – 187 ILCS on I-35W – 110 ILCS on I-94 ILCS are a 4ft x 5ft full color matrix signs. Use of the ILCS is for incident management, variable speeds and priced dynamic shoulder lane. I-35W and I-94 Smart Lanes

ILCS Sign Options Blank – default Green – Lane Open Flashing Yellow – Caution Red X – Closed Lane Closed Ahead Merge Left Merge Right Merge Both Speed Limit White Diamond

Variable Speed Limits Advisory Only Detection measures traffic speeds downstream Speeds are posted up to 1 ½ miles upstream

Human Factors Study Driving simulation study to test the effectiveness of the ILCS messages. Compared diagonal arrow, merge arrow, and basic text messages. 160 participants from multiple age groups; – years old – years old – years old – 70 years old or more.

Human Factors Study Results Study found the diagonal arrow was most effective in getting people to move over. Results showed that overall, the messages were well understood. Further study needed to determine how motorists use this information in the real world with other factors at play – Gap acceptance in traffic – Queue jumping – Disbelief in sign message

I-35W Early Results Lane Control Messages – Human factors study and surveys has shown understanding of ILCS messages – Message compliance still an issue Variable Speed Limits – Minimal improvements to mobility – Improvements in speed differential approaching congestion – Reduced shockwaves – Too early for crash data results but preliminary results are not showing improvements

Priced Dynamic Shoulder Lane (PDSL) 3 Mile Segment on NB 35W Maintains existing 4 lanes with an added PDSL Lane Effectively extends the MnPASS lane to downtown Minneapolis using existing road space Total Cost = $17 M 4 Lanes plus PDSL 5 Lanes

I-35W PDSL Operations Monday – Friday – 6:00 AM to 7:00 PM – Expanded Mid-day hours due to high violation rates Can be open on weekends or evenings for special events, weather or incidents. – Regular Saturday hours from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM

I-35W MnPASS: Regulatory Signing

I-35W MnPASS: PDSL Closed

I-35W MnPASS: In Pavement Lighting PDSL Closed

I-35W MnPASS: In Pavement Lighting PDSL Open

I-35W MnPASS: In Pavement Lighting Corrosion and Failure No distinguishable difference in violation rates of the PDSL with or without the in pavement lighting.

Emergency Pull-Offs Why we have them: Refuge for disabled vehicles and crashesRefuge for disabled vehicles and crashes Enforcement areasEnforcement areas Co-located with Maintenance pull-offsCo-located with Maintenance pull-offs Design considerations: Goal to locate every ½ mileGoal to locate every ½ mile 14 ft width, min 200 ft long14 ft width, min 200 ft long

Operations and Maintenance

Operations Challenges ILCS requires more precision to deploy than overhead CMS. – Distance to incident is closer – Lane specific – Need precise location of incident – Requires more operator actions Multiple ILCS to deploy for a single incident Every changing incident scene Requires highly skilled and detail oriented staff

Freeway Operations Staffing No funding for additional staffing Gradual shift to full-time operator staff – At the expense of losing traffic analyst staff Freeway Operations Staff not 24/7 – Responsibility for ILCS given to State Patrol afterhours.

Operations Software IRIS Software Developed In-house controls all FMS equipment including the ATM equipment Developed recommended deployment plans for ILCS – Operator enters in incident location and what lanes are blocked – IRIS auto-deploys signs based on these inputs Streamlined other operations software to ease workload for operators – Example – State Patrol CAD data automatically deployed to 511 system

Maintenance Staffing MnPASS Revenues on I-35W paid for one FTE to maintain ILCS. – No additional funding for I-94 Maintenance Agreements for ILCS – I-35W - approximately $280,000 a year – I-94 - approximately $200,000 a year Utilities Costs – I-35W - approximately $60,000 a year – I-94 – approximately $40,000 a year

Design for Maintenance

I-94 between I-35W and I-35E Active Traffic Management – Advisory Variable Speed Limits – Intelligent Lane Control Signals 4 th lane between Hwy 280 and 5 th St/6 th St ramps – Maintain 4 th lane added after I-35W bridge collapse – Adds some shoulder width and emergency pull-offs where feasible I-94 Managed Lanes Project

I-94 Managed Auxiliary Lane Normal Operations

I-94 Managed Auxiliary Lane PM Peak Period Operations

Dynamic MnPASS Sign on I-35E

I-494 Dynamic Shoulder Right hand dynamic shoulder Open during peak hours to general purpose traffic Project limits from Hwy 55 to I construction season Lane control signals over shoulder Supplemental CMS

I-494 Dynamic Shoulder Signing Over Shoulder Lane Only

I-494 Dynamic Shoulder Advanced Signing - 1 Mile

I-494 Dynamic Shoulder Advanced Signing – 1/2 Mile

I-494 Dynamic Shoulder Advanced Signing – 0.2 Mile

I-494 Dynamic Shoulder Ramp Signing Use of the term “WHEN FLASHING”

Future of ATM in MnDOT Dynamic Shoulders – Nothing planned, but still in the toolbox I-35W ATM – Some remove as part of future construction projects – Replace with more frequent DMS rather than ILCS – PDSL will be a permanent lane I-94 ATM – No changes planned

Brian Kary Freeway Operations Engineer