A method of managing traffic around roadwork sites involves conducting single-lane shuttle flow operation to maintain road operations at a reduced capacity whilst works such as resealing, line marking, or service upgrades occur on the adjacent side. The design of shuttle flow operations at roadworks is governed by guidance in the Queensland Guide to Temporary Traffic Management and Guideline for Traffic Management at Works on Road, with conditions for use imposed by length of the proposed operation and hourly traffic volumes across the affected segment.
Feedback from the traffic management industry, consistent with on-site observations, indicate that current maximum shuttle flow lengths may be too conservative, resulting in non-conforming implementation and unattained efficiencies at roadwork sites. The Department of Transport and Main Roads is undertaking a project to review current practice and limitations on shuttle flow operations, with the intention to update best practice guidance to increase safety, particularly at end of queue and in relation to appropriate speed limit setting, and both construction and traffic efficiency.
An innovative tool is being developed as an output of this project to allow traffic management designers and reviewers to calculate a new maximum permissible length of shuttle flow on a site-specific basis, with an input of traffic volumes and directional split, and maximum acceptable traffic delay. This will assist designers in providing the most appropriate end-of-queue protection methods for traffic, as the queue length for each approach will be automatically estimated, and the maximum permissible shuttle flow length suitable to the specific road characteristics can be used to enhance construction efficiency.
