Speaking

The traveling public is demanding increased mobility while displaying less tolerance for delays, increased travel times and inconvenience because of congestion. This is forcing designers to become more creative with maintenance of traffic (MOT) during construction. This presentation will highlight some innovative strategies to add to the MOT toolbox, including freeway realignment, use of interchange ramps to divert traffic and even new interchange configurations. These examples will be highlighted through several case study examples. This presentation will also identify best practices other states are implementing, such as Smart Work Zones, use of ITS and Zipper Merges, as they strive for safer and more efficient work zones. The audience will leave this presentation with a toolbox of innovative strategies for maintaining traffic through work zones that maximize travel time reliability without compromising safety.

Ohio’s SmartLane projects use part-time shoulder travel to add capacity without expanding the roadway footprint, offering a cost-effective way to reduce congestion and improve travel time reliability. While effective in mitigating congestion, this strategy often raises concerns about perceived safety because it reduces lateral offset in the shoulder lane. With limited long-term data, it's unclear whether these concerns are justified. This presentation examines Ohio’s first SmartLane on I-670 because it has been active long enough to effectively compare crash data before and after implementation. It will highlight key lessons learned and practice gaps identified during the I-670 project to aid in the development of future SmartLane corridors in Ohio.