Ah, summer in Northeast Ohio. The season may be winding down, but construction will be going strong until the cold weather moves in. Of course, we all collectively groan when the orange barrels pop up along the routes of our commutes, but we engineers would like to reassure the public that we do our best to balance safety with minimizing the disruption to traffic in construction zones. We don’t like traffic jams either!

Here’s a look at how we go about forming a Maintenance of Traffic Plan for a construction project that impacts roadways/highways:

The primary function of temporary traffic control is to provide for the safe and efficient movement of vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians through or around temporary traffic control zones while reasonably protecting workers and equipment. The additional objective of the temporary traffic control is the efficient construction and maintenance of the roadway or highway.

In conjunction with the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (OMUTCD), all temporary traffic control must conform to ODOT’s minimum standard for all traffic control devices used during construction, maintenance, and utility activities plus incident management.

Every work zone situation is different, so several items must be considered in determining the traffic control needed. Questions […]