During the first year of operations at the "Big I" work zone in Albuquerque, temporary traffic management and motorist assistance patrols reduced the average incident response time to less than eight minutes, and no fatalities were reported.

Date Posted

11/19/2001

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Albuquerque, New Mexico,

United States

Identifier

2007-B00495

Intelligent Transportation Systems in Work Zones: Leveraging the Internet and Wireless Communications

Summary Information

This project evaluated work zone incident management systems designed to improve safety and incident response times during reconstruction at the "Big I" interchange in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A construction traffic management center (CTMC) was developed to monitor work zone traffic conditions, assess incidents, and dispatch police, wreckers, and on-site courtesy patrols.

Work zone surveillance was achieved through closed circuit television cameras (CCTV), broadband wireless communications, and directional antennas. Motorists approaching the interchange of I-25 and I-40 were made aware of traffic conditions (lanes affected) via information displayed on dynamic message signs (DMS), and through strategic deployment of portable changeable message signs (CMS). In addition, pre-trip traffic information was updated every three minutes on the "BIG I" Internet web-site.

FINDINGS

After approximately one year of operations, the average incident response time was under eight minutes and no fatalities were reported.