Safety of road work zones: European and the U.S. perspective

Highway facilities are built for the purpose of efficiently and economically serving the transportation needs of the public. During the road construction or maintenance operations the normal flow of traffic is disrupted by either a change in highway geometry or a temporary highway closure. These activities present challenges for the safety of workers and the traveling public. Therefore, work zone on highways have to be designed and managed to ensure maximum safety and mobility. Unfortunately, the proper treatment for work zone area in Europe and the US are still overlooked by concerned authorities. Inadequate and improper selection of traffic control devices can be generally seen in some maintenance sites. Lacking of consistency and knowledge in designing proper traffic control plan can also be noticed. The improper use and arrangement of protective control devices within work zone such as unprotected work space without proper protection devices, loose debris and construction material on the roadway, and discontinuous barriers to prevent errant vehicles can be widely observed. This paper presents and compares the key elements for the work zone safety in Europe and the US. It focuses on particularly functional and physical separation between workers and traffic, preservation of traffic flows and clarity in the directives and relevance of the information. Moreover, human targeted solutions, sustainability and safety aspects obtained from European and US road work zone projects are also addressed.