Region 4 Lane Closure Strategy, 4
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would be expected to reduce this typical capacity by distracting drivers and shifting lane alignments,
among other factors. Research conducted by Krammes and Lopez (Transportation Research Record
1442, 1994 pp. 49-56) cited in the Highway Capacity Manual 2010 (HCM 2010) (2010 Edition,
Transportation Research Board, p. 10-26) indicates that the per-lane capacity of a freeway facility is
reduced when a lane closure is initiated. In the research, several freeway lane closure locations were
studied to evaluate the capacity under closed conditions. It was found that, on average, the capacity of a
mainline freeway segment with a lane closed is 1,600 vphpl.
Studies by the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) and CDOT Region 2 indicate that
freeway capacity during a lane closure depends upon the type of work being completed. Paving and
milling operations have a much lower capacity than other types of construction activities. To develop
conservative allowed closure hours for this Strategy, a lane closure scenario was analyzed for freeways
based on a paving operation. The lane closure capacity of a mainline freeway facility is 1,100 vphpl when
performing paving or milling operations. A delay threshold of 10 minutes was used for freeway
segments. If the average delay with a lane closure exceeded this threshold a lane closure would not be
allowed during that time period. The hourly traffic volumes along each section of mainline freeway were
compared by direction with the estimated lane-closed capacity to determine an appropriate schedule for
lane closures.
Sequential freeway segments with identical characteristics, such as number of lanes, grade, and direction,
should all have the same capacity, even though they may serve different traffic volumes. In these
instances, the capacity of all the sequential segments is dictated by the segment that has the highest
counted hourly volume.
Freeway Analysis
A spreadsheet implementation of arrival / departure curves was formulated to automate the calculation
of average delay induced by a lane closure along each multi-lane highway section. The spreadsheet
enables the user to choose lane closure schedules with average delay values less than 10 based on
calculated hourly traffic volumes. Initial closure schedules were selected that have the fewest restricted
hours while providing the smallest average delay during closure. Additional adjustments were made to
these schedules to provide at least two consecutive hours of closure or restriction. This allows
meaningful construction/maintenance activity to be completed or excess vehicle queues to clear.
Transportation Engineering literature documents the use of arrival and departure curves to calculate
vehicle delays and queues. The methodology outlined in the book Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering
(May 1990, pp. 346-349) uses a plot depicting cumulative vehicle arrivals at and departures from a given
location over the course of 24 hours. For this analysis, the 24-hour traffic count information was used to
plot cumulative arrivals, and the roadway vehicle capacities discussed previously were used to formulate
cumulative departure curves.
Figure 6 provides a sample plot of arrivals and departures. This plot corresponds to a particular
direction of a state highway segment between the hours of 8:00 AM and 2:00 PM on a typical weekday.
The curves become separated when the demand/arrival rate, represented by the blue curve, exceeds
capacity, creating over-saturated conditions. The departure rate, represented by the red curve, is
reduced to the capacity of the partially closed highway between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM. The curves
reconnect when capacity is sufficient to meet the demand. This can occur if the vehicle arrival rate
decreases (demand is reduced) or if the capacity of the highway increases (the closed lane is reopened).
In the sample plot shown on Figure 6, this occurs at 1:00 PM.