Work zone throughput models for Southern Ontario

Highway lane closures cause reductions in the traffic throughput which lead to premature queuing and can result in significant delays. To minimize user delay costs, contractors are required to keep highway lanes open during the peak traffic hours and work at nights. However, these limitations can reduce the quality of the work and extend project duration. Finding a right balance between the times that the lanes can be closed and the times they should be kept open can increase the efficiency of the contractors' work, save money and reduce user delay costs. Over 100 hours of throughput data were collected during four construction seasons from 2007 to 2010 from Southern Ontario highway work zones. Using multiple regression analysis, a generic model was developed based on the closure layout and the characteristics present on site. This generic model can predict the mean throughput in 51% of cases within one hundred vehicles per hour per lane of the actual mean. Also highway specific models were developed based on the highway identifier, closure layout and site characteristics to improve the prediction results.