Updated Work Zone Capacities (0-5619-S)

Roadway construction projects are among the most visible activities that the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) completes for the traveling public. The public desires the projects to be completed as quickly as possible with minimal impact on daily travels. In order to assure the quickest project completion, TxDOT constructs most major projects using incentives for early completion and/or liquidated damages for failure to meet the contractual deadlines. Lane assessments or lane rental fees on routine maintenance contracts as well as for standard roadway construction projects are also being used. A critical input into the analysis process for determining the dollar amount of incentive, penalty, or assessment is the use of accurate roadway capacity for roadway segments impacted by the construction project. In addition to the updated capacity values being used in road user cost studies, these capacity values are also be used by TxDOT staff to quantify the traffic carrying capacity of various work zone configurations during traffic control plan development such that delay to the public will be minimized. This project serves to update work zone capacity data which is limited and very outdated.