%0 Journal Article
%T Comparing Three Lane Merging Schemes for Short-Term Work Zones: A Simulation Study
%A Rami Harb
%A Essam Radwan
%A Vinayak V. Dixit
%J ISRN Civil Engineering
%D 2012
%R 10.5402/2012/507269
%X Traffic safety and mobility of roadway work zones have been considered to be one of the major concerns in highway traffic safety and operations in Florida. Dynamic lane merging (DLM) systems¡ªITS-based lane management technology¡ªwere introduced by several states in an attempt to enhance both safety and mobility of roadway work zones. Two forms of lane merging, namely, the early merge and the late merge were designed to advise drivers on definite merging locations. Up to date, there are no studies that contrast both merging schemes under matching work zone settings. This study simulates a two-to-one work zone lane closure configuration under three different Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) plans in VISSIM. The first MOT is the conventional plans used in Florida¡¯s work zones, the second MOT is a simplified dynamic early merging system (early SDLMS), and the third MOT is a simplified dynamic late merging systems (late SDLMSs). Field data was collected to calibrate and validate the simulation models. Simulation results indicated that overall, under different levels of drivers¡¯ compliance rate and different percentages of trucks in the traffic composition, the early SLDMS outperformed the conventional MOT and the late SDLMS in terms of travel times and throughputs. 1. Introduction To improve traffic safety and mobility in work zone areas, several states of the USA explored the Dynamic Lane Merge (DLM) systems. The DLM systems are intelligent work zone traffic control systems that respond to real-time traffic changes via traffic sensors. The DLM systems are designed to advise drivers on definite merging locations and can take two forms: dynamic early merge and dynamic late merge. The idea behind the dynamic early merge is to create a dynamic no-passing zone to encourage drivers to merge into the open lane before reaching the end of a queue and to prohibit them from using the closed lane to pass vehicles in the queue and merge into the open lane ahead of them [1]. The concept behind late merge is to make more efficient use of roadway storage space by allowing drivers to use all available traffic lanes to the merge point. Once the merge point is reached, the drivers in each lane take turns proceeding through the work zone [2]. Several studies were undertaken to contrast the early form of the DLM [1, 3¨C5] or the late form of the DLM [2, 6¨C10] to existing Maintenance of Traffic (MOT) plans or standard MUTCD work zone traffic control plans. Whereas each study exposes the advantages and disadvantages of the tested systems, up to date there are no studies that cross
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.civil.engineering/2012/507269/