5/6/2023 0 Comments Mdot traffic volumesIt also extends the reach of our traffic count data to external organizations. Importantly, the transition to TDMS was intended to make traffic count data, which is collected and maintained by MDOT’s Bureau of Transportation Planning, more widely accessible for decision making purposes. The new cloud-based application replaced more than 10 legacy programs and offers significantly enhanced functionality and capabilities. However, the programs require additional formatting and processing of data in order for the data to be fully analyzed. The legacy programs worked together to allow for the storing, viewing, and accessing of traffic count data. TDMS replaced a collection of legacy programs that were designed, built, and maintained in house. To help determine the best time to move the barrier wall MDOT relied on a new cloud-based application designed and used for managing and analyzing traffic count data called the Transportation Data Management System (TDMS). TSMO Planning, Strategies, and Deployment The Bay City TSC needed to know how late on Saturday that the northbound traffic would require two lanes. The Saturday after the 4 th of July has been very challenging to predict peak traffic flows because travelers tend to continue north until later in the day on Saturday. The task for the Bay City TSC was to determine the optimal time to change the number of peak lanes during the Saturday after the 4 th of July. The summer of 2019 proved to be especially challenging because the 4 th of July fell on a Thursday. Because the 4 th of July can fall on any day of the week depending on the year, it makes predicting peak flow very difficult when the holiday falls on a mid-weekday. Identifying the most appropriate time to move the barrier wall is important for minimizing motorist frustration and user delay costs. The challenge for the local Bay City Transportation Service Center (TSC) office is predicting 4 th of July travel, which is typically much heavier and may not align with normal summer weekend travel patterns. At that point in time the peak traffic flow turns to the south starting in the afternoon on Saturday and ending on Monday afternoon. The peak traffic flow is to Northern Michigan starting on Thursday and ending on Saturday afternoon. This jump in traffic volumes is typically easy to predict for summer weekend travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day. However, during summer weekend and holiday periods the traffic volumes jump dramatically to about twice the normal volumes. This section of I-75 experiences an average daily traffic count of about 25,000 vehicles with approximately 8.5% of that being commercial. The zipper wall virtually eliminated motorist delays during construction, saving millions in user delay costs for this project. This innovation served as the link to the tourist industry in Northern Michigan, which plays a vital role in sustaining Michigan’s economy. In addition, the project included a moveable barrier wall system (zipper wall), allowing an additional second lane for motorists in the direction of peak travel. Throughout the project, traffic was maintained with lane closures and traffic shifts. The route features two travel lanes in each direction (north/south) and is heavily recreational, connecting the population centers in Southeast Michigan to the weekend and vacation destinations in Northern Michigan. The goal of the project is to enhance safety by providing a smoother driving surface on I-75, make significant structural improvements to several bridges, and extend the life of the roadway. The $29 million highway and bridge reconstruction project included 4.2 miles of concrete rubblizing and hot mix asphalt overlay with eleven bridges that received various types of improvements. MDOT’s Bay Region began reconstructing I-75 in Bay County in the spring of 2019. How the DOT worked across departments to gather the needed data from multiple systems.How legacy data was combined and analyzed quickly by a data management system to determine the best times of day to move the zipper wall to mitigate traffic.How the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) was able to minimize July 4 th holiday backups in a construction zone by using zipper walls to provide variable lanes.Overview IN THIS CASE STUDY YOU WILL LEARN:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |