The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is interested in refining work zone safety performance measures so that safety can be better assessed, monitored, and compared over time. VDOT currently uses the number of fatalities and the number of serious injuries in work zone traffic crashes as statewide performance measures. Although these are important direct safety metrics, they do not reflect differences in work zone exposure measures, such as the number of work zones. As a result, it is not always clear whether changes in work zone crashes are being caused by safety problems or changes in the amount of road work. This study developed and improved statewide work zone safety performance measures for Virginia by combining information from two sources in VDOT: the VDOT crash database containing information in police crash reports and the Virginia Traffic Information Management System (VaTraffic) database containing information on incidents, work zones, weather conditions, etc. Count measures, such as the number of fatal work zone crashes, were calculated from the crash database. Exposure measures, such as work zone-hours, were calculated from the VaTraffic database. Combining these two types of measures resulted in rate measures such as number of fatal work zone crashes per 1,000 work zone-hours. Unfortunately, existing databases still have a number of limitations that prohibit the calculation of ideal rate-based performance measures. Based on currently available data, four performance measures were found to be appropriate for monitoring and evaluating the statewide safety performance of work zones, and eight summary measures were identified in order to obtain further insights regarding statewide safety issues at work zones in Virginia. These measures were selected using the results of statistical analyses and input from a technical review panel consisting of work zone coordinators and traffic engineers. An important finding of this study was that work zone safety assessments can change significantly depending on whether exposure measures are included. Based on count measures, work zones on non-interstate highways appear to have safety records equal to or better than those on interstate highways. However, when exposure measures were incorporated, work zones on interstate highways were shown to have better safety records. This study recommends that VDOT immediately begin using the performance measures identified in this study.

As America's roadways are becoming more congested and in need of maintenance and repair, management of traffic through work zones is a major issue for state departments of transportation. To assist states with this challenge, in 2004, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published its "Final Rule on Work Zone Safety and Mobility," which mandated that state DOTs develop transportation management plans (TMPs) for all federally funded roadway construction projects. The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) now requires TMPs for all projects, regardless of funding source. Part of federal and Virginia TMP requirements are to monitor and assess traffic impacts, including a post-construction evaluation of the TMP. Currently, TMPs are not being assessed following individual construction projects, and VDOT does not yet have a formally established process to assess TMP performance throughout its districts and regions. The purpose of this project was to develop a set of guidelines to assist VDOT's work zone personnel and contractors with evaluating TMP performance. The research methodology examines existing literature on work zone evaluation strategies. Thirty state DOTs, as well as personnel within VDOT, were surveyed to explore TMP assessment practices. Finally, two work zone case studies from within the Commonwealth of Virginia were examined. The results of this research effort were used to develop Guidelines for TMP Performance Assessment, with aid and review from a VDOT Performance Assessment Task Group. While these new requirements may add up-front costs to project engineering, VDOT will benefit by having a methodology in place to identify and measure successful strategies to manage safety and mobility impacts from work zones.

The purpose of this manual is to provide clear and helpful information for maintaining gravel roads. Very little technical help is available to small agencies that are responsible for managing these roads. Gravel road maintenance has traditionally been "more of an art than a science" and very few formal standards exist. This manual contains guidelines to help answer the questions that arise concerning gravel road maintenance such as: What is enough surface crown? What is too much? What causes corrugation? The information is as nontechnical as possible without sacrificing clear guidelines and instructions on how to do the job right.