- [Instructor] Work zones can be confusing places
especially for first-time drivers
of that particular roadway.
And to make things more difficult,
work zones often create conditions
where large guide signs are not feasible.
This project, which included a driver survey,
is designed to make work zones safer.
- Often the overhead guide signs
are some of the first signs that are pulled up or taken away
to make room for the construction.
Usually a lane widening or something like that.
And bringing that information onto temporary signs
can be challenging.
When there's permanent guide signs present,
they usually do a relatively good job of guiding motorists.
And when those signs come down,
the signs that replace them are usually pretty well-designed
but often because of a lack of space or right way
during the construction project,
those signs get moved onto the shoulders.
And so whether or not people can actually see
all the signs they need to see, that's really wasn't known.
And that's part of what we looked at in this project.
- The guide signs are for the unfamiliar motorists.
So if somebody's driving that roadway every day,
they'd take that route to work,
that's not gonna be an issue for them.
But it's the unfamiliar motorist.
We have specific requirements for guide signs
in terms of where they are in proximity to the exit,
how far in advance, the type of font,
the size of the font,
the amount of legend that goes on the guide signs.
And there's limited guidance on temporary guide signs
in work zones or in construction zones.
- We visited over 20 work zones,
and we did positive guidance assessments in each work zone
to check and make sure all the necessary signs
that are described
in the Manual for Uniform traffic Control Devices.
Did they conform with those guidelines?
Did they help people to find their way
to the exit that they wanted to get to?
And we developed a survey to gather information
from motorists.
So all of that information was taken into account
to sort of bullet list problems that we saw
or things that needed to be investigated
in the second part of the research.
- I think the way we're gonna move forward with this,
is we do have a document, a work zone,
safety and mobility plan.
And we're looking at adding some if not all
the recommendations from this research report
to that document.
- [Instructor] For more information
and to find the publications for this project,
please visit the textile research library
at the link shown below.