The Grainger College of Engineering
Illinois Center for Transportation

New ICT-IDOT projects

1/18/2022 McCall Macomber

Illinois Center for Transportation is pleased to announce the start of new Illinois Department of Transportation-sponsored projects, from most recent start date.

R27-246: Development of Design Guidance for Smart Work Zone Systems
Juan Pava, Illinois Department of Transportation
Khaled El-Rayes, Yanfeng Ouyang and Ernest-John Ignacio, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

In Illinois, 6,406 work zone crashes occurred, on average, per year from 2015 to 2019, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation. That’s why effectively and quickly communicating real-time travel information in work zones is key to helping Illinois “Drive Zero Fatalities to a Reality.” 
A sign in an Illinois smart work zone system communicating real-time travel information to drivers. Illinois, one of the first states to adopt connected work zone technology, has used smart work zone systems since the early 2000s. Smart work zone systems have been proven to reduce rear-end crashes by up to 70 percent, according to Road Safe Traffic Systems.

Smart work zone systems collect real-time data such as speed and traffic volume and display travel information to drivers when they are approaching work zones.

Here researchers seek to develop guidelines for Illinois to help determine when smart work zone systems are needed as well how to design them and ensure these systems are adequately operating.

Their goal is to ensure that smart work zone systems in Illinois are effectively used, which will help reduce traffic incidents as well as increase mobility and cost savings.

The project will wrap up June 2023 with interim implementation dates prior to completion to help IDOT promptly realize the benefits of this project.

R27-245-HS: Quantification of the Effectiveness and External Noise of Rumble Strip Designs
Janel Veile and Issam Rayyan, Illinois Department of Transportation
Khaled El-Rayes, Ghassan Chehab and E.J. Ignacio, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

One of four rumble strip designs — milled, rolled, formed and raised — on a roadway. More than half of U.S. traffic fatalities occur after a driver crosses the edge or center line of a road, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which is why designing effective rumble strips is key to safer roadways.
One of four rumble strip designs — milled, rolled, formed and raised — on a roadway. More than half of U.S. traffic fatalities occur after a driver crosses the edge or center line of a road, according to the Federal Highway Administration, which is why designing effective rumble strips is key to safer roadways.

Rumble strips — patches within a roadway that warn drivers when to slow down or when they are leaving their lane — can cause excessive noise to nearby neighborhoods. Here researchers will investigate rumble strip designs that maximize safety while minimizing noise for nearby residents.

The research team will help IDOT “Drive Zero Fatalities to a Reality” by identifying rumble strip designs that ensure roadway safety while reducing external noise for Illinois residents and businesses.

The effort will wrap up July 2024.