Analysis of the Impacts of Freeway Reconstruction Closures in Urban Areas

The traffic- and business-related impact of a weekend closure of a major urban freeway is evaluated. Data were gathered from a 9-km section of 1-405 in Seattle that was closed to traffic in a single direction for two consecutive weekends, August 15-17 and August 22-24, 1997, for repaving operations. In evaluating this approach to highway reconstruction (i.e., total directional closure), the impact on vehicle travel time and total emissions including carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, and volatile organic compounds was estimated. Also, a survey was conducted asking travelers how their travel patterns changed in response to the weekend closure of this section of 1-405. In addition to questions about changes in travel patterns, questions relating to the travelers’ overall impressions were asked. Limited dependent analysis techniques including ordered probit and binary logit models were used in the survey analyses. Finally, a small sample of businesses were interviewed for their impressions of the closure.