COMPUTER SIMULATION OF I-95 LANE CLOSURES USING FRESIM

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the TRAF family freeway simulation model FRESIM (Version 4.5) (1) for a simple freeway lane closure by comparing simulated behavior to the observed behavior of a study site. No published studies exist that have validated the use of FRESIM for work zone simulation applications. The study site was a two-lane southbound Interstate 95 (I-95) segment in Cumberland County, North Carolina. The contractor was conducting a four-mile long asphalt milling and paving operation during the evaluation. FRESIM is attractive for work zone modeling due to advanced features including freeway incidents with lane blockage (recommended by the user manual for work zone simulation), lane additions and lane drops, and detector simulation (FRESIM's point processing features) FRESIM does not model reduced lane widths, physical lane tapers, or time of day (night versus daylight conditions).