Vehicle capacity in Temporary Traffic Control zone

Question

Vehicle capacity in Temporary Traffic Control zone

Petermason (Civil/Environmental)

(OP)

22 Aug 08 17:42

Refer to thread163-109092: max volumes for flagger control?

I want to estimate the capacity of a (more or less) typical flagger show in an urban setting. I have contacted a local flagging company and asked that I be notified when they get a job where there is likely to be a strong flow of traffic. When they identify a candidate for data collection, we (the City) will collect either a manual count or a video from which a count can be made.

Any suggestions? If you have already done this, let me know, as our Data Collection section is already plenty busy

ACtrafficengr (Civil/Environmental) · Answer 1 · 2008-08-26 15:09:34

I can't find the reference, but I recall seeing 850 vph as the capacity of a typical flagger operation. It was at least 12 years ago that I saw it. I think it was a TRR or NCHRP report.

Of course, it will vary widely depending on the length of the work zone, width of the open lane, work being done, etc. If you have the counterweight of a Greadall or track-hoe's swinging towards the travel lane, you can espect drivers to pause until they see it won't hit them.

You could also ask the Work Zone Clearing house at http://wzsafety.tamu.edu/ if they have any info.

Please let us know what you find out!

"...students of traffic are beginning to realize the false economy of mechanically controlled traffic, and hand work by trained officers will again prevail." - Wm. Phelps Eno, ca. 1928

"I'm searching for the questions, so my answers will make sense." - Stephen Brust

Petermason (Civil/Environmental) · Answer 2 · 2008-08-26 20:11:29

I will proceed with my plan to count vehicles in a flagger controlled work zone. To keep this simple, I will ask for a short zone on a collector street. That should get a "Max" figure, more or less.

This may take a while.....

I will post the results when/if I get them.

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Vehicle capacity in Temporary Traffic Control zone