Wisconsin Traffic Operations

Abstract

In July 2006, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) initiated a Traffic Operations Corridor Sketch-Planning project with the goal of developing a methodology and associated tool that would enable the Bureau of Highway Operations (BHO) to evaluate operational projects in the same manner as traditional infrastructure projects, as well as to integrate operations into the WisDOT planning process. A sketch-planning methodology was developed to achieve these goals with the use of data to drive operations technology recommendations for the WisDOT 2030 multimodal corridor network. This project has resulted in a unique process by which an entire statewide network can be analyzed in terms of operational requirements. These requirements are developed by using not only traditional planning metrics such as safety and traffic volumes and patterns but also operational aspects such as the impacts that special events and weather have on the transportation system. By providing a structured operations data set for integration in long-range planning, the WisDOT BHO has enabled operations strategies to complement, rather than compete with, physical highway improvements. Operations strategies can be a contributing part of the long-range vision for the state through a series of recommendations that are logical and data-driven, as well as communicable and understandable. This report covers the identification of data sources, the development of criteria, the identification of critical thresholds, and the results of the sketch-planning methodology, along with a description of how sketch-planning results are translated into a finalized statewide operations plan.