Work Zone Rule Virtual Workshop – Rule State of the Practice Overview

Assessing the State of the Practice FHWA has identified several ways to assess the state of the practice and effects of the Rule:  Review of 2008 Work Zone Self Assessment (WZSA) results  Review of responses to five supplemental questions added to the 2008 WZSA  Discussions with State and local agencies

What have we learned? Rule has brought about positive changes in practices and more focus on managing work zones, specifically in the following areas:  Work Zone Policy  Impacts Assessment  Significant Project Identification  Training  TMP Development and Implementation  Data Collection and Analysis

2008 WZSA Results Largest increases were in practices related to Subpart J:  Classifying projects based on impacts (Significant Projects) – 25%  Training law enforcement personnel – 21%  Establishing a policy to develop TMPs – 20%

WZSA Rule Supplemental Questions Supplemental question scoring scheme

Work Zone Policy Biggest change - Agencies have pulled together several disparate policy documents and procedures/guidelines into one WZ policy/guidelines.  Some agencies did not have a policy for MOT in work zones and have now developed one as a result of the Rule. 21 agencies (41%) have reported that as a result of their WZ Policy, they are taking a more consistent approach to planning, designing, and constructing road projects

Work Zone Policy (cont.) Many agencies mentioned they are now considering WZ impacts earlier in the project development process. Some agencies have established goals and measures for WZ performance (e.g., queues, delay time) as a result of the Rule.

Impacts Assessment The agency is seeing enhanced consideration and management of WZ safety and mobility impacts - starting during planning and continuing through project completion  24 agencies (47%) experienced this as a result of the Rule  3 of those agencies cited the Rule as causing a significant change in this area

Impacts Assessment (cont.) While planning and designing road projects, the agency is expanding planning beyond the project work zone itself to address corridor, network, and regional issues – particularly when congestion is an issue.  19 agencies said the Rule had caused this to occur  17 agencies said the Rule had not caused change because most of those agencies (16) were already doing this

Impacts Assessment (cont.) Agencies also indicated that they are more often using analytical tools to determine WZ impacts  10 to 15% increase in score each of the past 2 years on the 2 related WZ SA questions:  During planning to assess impacts of future construction/maintenance activities  To assess impacts when developing TCPs

Significant Project Identification Agencies are thinking more about project impacts and are more likely to have a process in place to classify projects based on expected impacts  As a result, they are better able to assess and manage WZ impacts  WZ SA shows a 25% increase in score between 2007 and 2008 in this area Several States said that they organize a team to develop the plan for mitigating the impacts of significant projects

Training Training has been significantly affected by the Rule 27 agencies (53%) said that as a result of the Rule they had updated/changed training for their staff (designers, planners, construction staff, etc.) to address broader consideration of WZ impacts and management in the scheduling, design, and implementation of projects  11 of those agencies said they had made significant changes in training WZ SA question on law enforcement training saw a 21% increase in score from 2007 to 2008

Training (cont.) The agency has updated/changed training for its staff (designers, planners, construction staff, etc.) to address broader consideration of work zone impacts and management in the scheduling, design, and implementation of projects.

TMP Development and Implementation Most agencies (90%) now have a policy for developing TMPs to help manage the WZ impacts of a project  WZ SA shows a major score increase (20%) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2007 to 2008 Some agencies have developed TMP teams and tools

Use of TMP Strategies The agency is expanding WZ management beyond traffic safety and control to address mobility through the consideration and use of transportation operations (TO) and public information (PI) strategies.

Data Collection and Analysis Increasing number of agencies report they are establishing measures and collecting data to track WZ congestion and delay Likely related to the addition of operational data to data provision when the Rule was updated Agencies establishing measures to track WZ congestion and delay increased 26% (from 23 to 29 agencies) between the 2007 and 2008 WZ SA, which continued a significant increase of the year before WZ SA indicates a 21% score increase between 2006 and 2007 and a 15% increase from 2007 to 2008 for the question on collecting data to track WZ congestion and delay Several agencies have started tracking queues