Low-Cost Freeway Bottleneck Improvements

Project Description

The System Operation Management program at TTI has a long history of research and evaluation of the effects of relatively small, low-cost geometric and operational improvements at freeway bottleneck locations in Texas. Bottleneck evaluations have primarily been performed under interagency project agreements with TxDOT in Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso dating back to 1986. These evaluations were based upon detailed data collection before and after bottleneck improvements, including speeds, volumes, and crash history. Comprehensive evaluations for thirteen bottleneck removal projects have shown benefit/cost ratios as high as 400:1, with the lowest ratio being 9:1; improvement costs ranged from $8,000 to $2.45 million. Injury crash rates were also substantially lower after the bottleneck removal in all but one case (average reduction of approximately 35 percent).

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