Highway Work Zone Safety Audit Guidelines Development and Training

1. Highway Work Zone Safety Audit Guidelines Development and Training Prepared By: Jonathan Shi, PI Dept. of Civil & Architectural Engineering Illinois Institute of Technology 3201 S. Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60616 Phone: (312) 567-3630 Fax: (312) 567-3519 Email: shi@iit.edu

2. Other Key Staff • IIT Staff • Dr. Z Li: (312) 567-3556, lizz@iit.edu • Dr. Mark Snyder: (312) 567-3540, mark.snyder@iit.edu • IDOT Staff • Kevin Burke: (217) 785-5048, Kevin.BurkeIII@illinois.gov • Priscilla Tobias: (217) 785-****, Priscilla.Tobias@illinois.gov • Utah LTAP Staff • Stuart Thompson: (435) 797-4432, stuart@cc.usu.edu • Doyt Bolling: (435) 797-2933, doyt@cc.usu.edu

3. Grant Description • Amount of funding • Funding from FHWA: $750,000 • Obligated amount for years 1 & 2: $396,213 • Cost share: $282,599 • Project duration (4 years) • Base years (2): Oct. 2006-Sept. 2008 • Option years (2): Oct. 2008-Sept. 2010

4. Progress, Oct-Dec. 2006 • Task 1 - Review of literature • to identify relevant rules, manuals, guidelines, and best practices in US and abroad in the areas of RSAs, WZ safety, and training programs. • Task 2 - Case study • to review and study existing WZ safety guidelines, practices, and safety programs that have been implemented on the Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94) Reconstruction Project.

5. Task 1: Review of Literature • RSA guidelines and best practices • examine the contents and compare consistency of different RSA guidelines. • WZ safety rules, manuals, and guidelines • prepared by different agencies such as FHWA, state DOTs, OSHA, and foreign governmental agencies. • WZ and worker training programs • over one thousand records of training information including videos, courses, workshops, conferences, materials, and certification programs.

6. Task 2 - Case Study • Dan Ryan Expressway • built in 1963 at 150,000 vpd vs. 320,000 in 2005. • MUTCD provided the basic guidelines. • Implementation of the WZ safety guidelines • IDOT, • Consultants, and • Contractors.

7. Best Practices Adopted by IDOT • Two operational lanes in each direction by using shoulders; • Use ADT to predict queues and guide traffic control plans; • Dynamic Lane Merge System to decrease the time for vehicles to merge at a taper; • Type II barricades for safety driving conditions in WZ; • Change construction procedures to reduce frequency of lane closures; • Improved dynamic message signs for drivers; • Speed photo enforcement; and • Public safety programs.

8. Major Difficulties Encountered • Actual data is needed, including crash data, workers’ injury data, insurance and payout during construction; • It takes a long process to get such data; and some information is even not obtainable; • A letter from FHWA urging public and private supports may help. • The quality of some data, e.g., crash data, needs to be improved.

9. Work to Be Accomplished • Completion of the two tasks in this quarter; • Survey on implementation and compliance of WZ safety audit guidelines/practices; • Study on strategies for developing new WZ safety audit guidelines; • Identify other case study projects; • Plan for a workshop on work zone safety issues.