Optimizing work zones for two-lane urban road maintenance projects

Road maintenance work brings costs to the government and delays to users. The setting up of work zones often leads to severe congestion during peak hours, especially in busy urban areas. A road maintenance delay model is presented here that includes consideration of excessive traffic flow and non-motorists. A trial-and-error method is used to find the optimal work zone length and the best work starting time to minimize the total cost of maintenance and delays. A numerical example with a sensitivity analysis is also given. The results show that optimal starting time is not sensitive to the flow speed and the increase of work zone speeds sharply reduces the total cost when the road is congested.