A PROPOSED METHODOLOGY FOR REAL-TIME CORRIDOR TRAFFIC CONTROL DURING FREEWAY INCIDENTS

There has been a great deal of interest recently in implementing advanced traffic management systems for freeway incident management. Such systems are especially valuable on highways operating at or near capacity during peak travel periods--under these conditions, quickly restoring the capacity lost to lane closures caused by accidents, disabled vehicles and load spills is critical to avoid catastrophic traffic queues. Until capacity is restored, it is useful to divert traffic from the freeway to alternate routes to avoid queues which can result in more accidents. However, diverting traffic from the freeway often simply transfers the congestion problem to the surface street system. A concept is presented for determining corridor control strategies that equally serve corridor through trips as well as local trips.