Agencies And The Data Provided To Assess Law Enforcement Surveillance Impact On Construction Zones

Maintenance and construction programs are arguably one of the most important functions of states DOT’s (as represented by the percentage of the budget invested). On the other hand during the construction period, there are temporary traffic disruptions, which increase the number of accidents with associated deaths and injuring thousand of people every year. Therefore, several states have taken a proactive role in implementing special measures in construction work zones to reduce number of accidents. One of these special measurements is the increase of law enforcement surveillance in construction zones. The work presented herein is part of a project funded by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. This paper focuses on the agencies involved in collecting and storing the data as well as the data used in the analysis. The collection of information from the agencies followed a descriptive research methodology. The results presented in this paper demonstrate the importance of inter-agency collaboration. Furthermore, this paper provide an example of data collected, archiving mechanism and retrieval procedures of each agency involved in this project. Therefore, the content of this paper could be used as an educational experience for students and junior professionals that are trying to create the foundation for similar studies. Introduction to Construction Zones Maintaining and upgrading the United State’s aging highway system requires a number of construction zones at any given time. These construction zones temporarily negatively impact traffic flow and deteriorate safety conditions impacting both road users and construction workers. Construction zone accidents involving motorists account for 70% of the total highway accidents. Motorists suffer approximately 700 fatalities, 40,000 injuries, and 52,000 propertydamage-only accidents, at a total cost of $6.2 billion/year [Mohan & Gautam, 2002]. Significant effort has been placed to further understand the potentially hazardous nature of work zones and several facts about work zones have been documented such as 1Eighty-five percent of those killed in work zones are drivers or occupants, 2Rear-end crashes are the most common kind of work zone crash, 3Roads with speed limits of 55 miles per hour or greater account for the majority of fatal work zone crashes in 2001, 4More than 50% of all fatal work zone crashes occurred during the day in 2001, 5More than twice as many fatal work zone crashes occurred on weekdays as on weekends; and 6Fatal work zone crashes occurred most often in the summer and the fall [FHWA, 2003]. Furthermore, construction zone’s fatalities are on the rise and are likely to continue climbing across the nation as departments of transportation continue repairing and upgrading the United States’s aging roadways [Safe Roads 2003]. This is particularly compounded in the State of Mississippi due to an all time peek volume of construction zones as well as the 1987 four-lane highway program and TEA-21 [Young 2001] P ge 12189.2 The work presented herein is a part of a project funded by the Mississippi Department of Transportation to determine the safety effectiveness of increased law enforcement surveillance in construction zones in Mississippi. More specifically, this paper presents an inter-agency collaboration to provide the data that they have collected to measure the impact of law enforcement in construction zones. Educationally, this is paper is a unique opportunity for students and junior professionals to be exposed to a process that proved to be successful in solving a real problem with multiple solutions, multiple solution paths, and contained uncertainty. These type of problems (also know as “ill-defined problems” [Jonassem 1997]) are common in engineering and construction profession. Unfortunately, they are difficult to implement and therefore not widely used in the classroom. This paper begins by presenting an overview of the agencies involved. This is followed by a description of data collected and its structure. Finally, the results of the lessons learns are presented. Overview of Agencies Involved in Collecting Data While in the classroom most (and in many case all) data required to solve a particular problem is provided to the students, in reality collecting, processing, archiving and retrieving data/information is a complex, costly and demanding process of all organizations. Each organization manages data/information in a different way for a variety of purposes to fulfill their primary responsibility. Therefore, it is important for students and junior professionals to understand this primary responsibility prior to request the appropriate data from the agencies. Following is a brief description of the responsibilities of the agencies involved in collecting data in construction zones with increased law enforcements. Mississippi Department of Transportation The Mississippi Department of Transportation is responsible for providing a safe intermodal transportation network that is planned, designed, constructed and maintained in an effective, cost efficient, and environmentally sensitive manner. In order to provide the framework for accomplishing the Mississippi Department of Transportation's (MDOT) mission, a set of seven goals has been developed. These goals are multimodal, comprehensive in scope and interdependent. Table 1 shows the goals of Mississippi. [MDOT, 2006] Table 1. Mississippi Department of Transportation Goals [MDOT, 2006] Goal 1: Accessibility and Mobility: Improve Accessibility and Mobility for Mississippi’s People, Commerce and Industry. Goal 2: Safety: Ensure High Standards of Safety in the Transportation System. Goal 3: Maintenance and Preservation: Maintain and Preserve Mississippi’s Transportation System. Goal 4: Environmental Stewardship: Ensure that Transportation System Development is Sensitive to Human and Natural Environment Concerns. Goal 5: Economic Development: Provide a Transportation System that Encourages and Supports Mississippi’s Economic Development. Goal 6: Awareness, Education and Cooperative Processes: Create Effective Transportation Partnerships and Cooperative Processes that Enhance Awareness of the Needs and Benefits of an Intermodal System. Goal 7: Finance: Provide a Sound Financial Basis for the Transportation System P ge 12189.3 Three offices within MDOT actively participated in this project: 1District office, 2Planning Division and 3Traffic Engineering Division. Planning Division: provides the Legislature, MDOT and the Federal Highway Administration with information to support program planning and decisions. Table 2 shows the planning division fundamental functions to provide support for planning and decisions [MDOT Planning Division, 2006] Table 2. Planning Division Fundamental Functions [MDOT Planning Division, 2006] Function Brief Description The Long Range Statewide Transportation Plan (MLRTP) Provides the framework for Mississippi’s transportation program. This is a 20+ year outlook. Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Provides a listing of the projects to be accomplished during the next three years. Traffic Monitoring System for Highways (TMS/H) Includes the collection and analysis of all traffic data including traffic counts, vehicle classification counts, truck weight surveys, turning movement counts, speed surveys, and occupancy surveys. Roadway Inventory and Mapping Provide statistics such as highway dimensions and mileage, structure information, and an extensive array of maps. A Federal Functional Classification System Used distinguish highways according to the character of service provided by the facility. Special Programs and Studies Administer programs including Urbanized Area support (places larger than 50,000), Federal Aid to all Urban areas (places above 5,000), Transit Planning grants, Transportation Enhancement program, Latin American Trade Study, Environmental Noise studies, Intermodal Connector Improvement Program, Great River Road Transportation Committee, etc. Specialized Reports and Feasibility Studies Prepare for decision makers include activities such as the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), Statistical reports on state, city and county highway finance, and analyses of interchanges and highway improvements. District 5 Office: is responsible for coordinating, planning, design, construction and maintenance of the intermodal transportation network within the ten counties. The counties include: Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Leake, Scott, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Kemper, and Lauderdale. The project was located in the city of Ridgeland in the Madison county. Traffic Engineering Division: ensures that safe, efficient traffic control measures are standardized throughout the State Maintained Highway System. It is responsible for the development of programs to add, upgrade or revise existing traffic control devices. This task compels studies to determine and recommend appropriate speed zones as well as the development and distribution of policies for the application of traffic control devices in accordance with established guidelines. The Traffic Engineering Division also directs the in-house manufacture and distribution of MDOT erected signs. Personnel travel statewide to install and maintain signs and signals on assigned sections of state maintained highways. [MDOT Traffic Engineering Division, 2006] Page 12189.4 Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol was one of the two law enforcement agencies that participated in increase law enforcement presence in the construction project. The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, formed in 1938, is charged with the responsibility of enforcing traffic laws on state and federal highways. Mississippi's state troopers must be prepared to assist local law enforcement agencies and to respond to statewide emergencies at the request of the governor. The officers of the patrol exemplify the agency's