Development of engineering and implementation measures to improve the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in highway construction zones within urban areas

In the United States, from 1996 to 2000, non-motorist fatalities in work zones increased by almost 70%. These non-motorist fatalities represent 15% of the fatalities resulting from crashes in work zones. According to reports by Fatalities Analysis Reporting Systems (FARS), every year an average of 2,355 non-motorists die in construction work zones.; In Florida, non-motorist fatalities represent 16% of all crash fatalities. The State of Florida has the second highest rate of fatalities, with 2.91 pedestrian fatalities per 100,.000 population. Florida ranks 4th in population, but it ranks 2nd in pedestrian fatalities and fatalities per 100,000 people, showing that the problem is severe in Florida. The Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2003, 6D-1), which is the national specification guide and standard, provides the following general guidance:; A wide range of pedestrians can be expected at work sites, including the young, old, and disabled. All of these pedestrians need a clearly delineated and usable travel path.; After reading the above statement, many designers and contractors may ask themselves how they can satisfy the above requirement. They need clear guidance to provide work zones that are safe for both motorist and non-motorist traffic.; Meanwhile, FDOT design standards also provide detailed drawings for 33 different roadway/work zone situations, but only one drawing deals with pedestrian safety, and bicyclist considerations are not addressed. This non-motorist situation is prompting safety efforts to address these issues.; The objective of this research was to identify issues and factors influencing pedestrian and bicyclist safety in construction work zones, in order to develop engineering and implementation measures that can be added to existing Florida's design manuals and standards to improve the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists in highway construction work zones.; The investigation of the non-motorists' safety needs in work zone was performed using historical non-motorist crash data, observations of non-motorists' behaviors in work zones, and surveys conducted with different bicycle/pedestrian associations.; The final outcome of this research was the development of non-motorist safety measures and an implementation process model. The five most common work zone configurations/layouts were used to deploy the safety measures and to safely accommodate non-motorists through and around construction areas.