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Process Review Examples

Section 630.1008 of the Work Zone Safety and Mobility Rule requires agencies to conduct a process review at least every two years to assess the effectiveness of work zone safety and mobility procedures. More information about process reviews can be found in Implementing the Rule on Work Zone Safety and Mobility.

The following examples are meant to assist agencies with developing their own process review guidelines and are not meant to advocate a "one size fits all" approach.

Process Reviews

Webinar on Work Zone Process Reviews - held on October 31, 2011

• Recording
• Transcript (HTML, PDF 203KB)
• Introduction Presentation, by Tracy Scriba, FHWA Work Zone Mobility and Safety Team (HTML, PDF 302KB)
• Iowa Presentation, by Jerry Roche, FHWA Iowa Division and Dan Sprengeler, Iowa DOT (HTML, PDF 299KB)
• Colorado Presentation, by Dahir Egal, FHWA Colorado Division; K.C. Matthews, Colorado DOT; and San Lee, Colorado DOT (HTML, PDF 150KB)
• Louisiana Presentation, by Betsey Tramonte, FHWA Louisiana Division and Barry Lacy, Louisiana DOTD (HTML, PDF 340KB)

Montana Department of Transportation

The Montana DOT (MDT) developed Process Review Guidelines as part of its Work Zone Safety and Mobility Guidelines. Information about MDT's process review guidelines can be found in Appendix B of MDT Work Zone Safety and Mobility: Goals and Objectives, Procedures, Guidelines (PDF 537KB).

Under its Process Review Guidelines, MDT conducts periodic evaluation of construction zone policies, processes, procedures, and construction zone impacts to aid in the process of addressing and managing the safety and mobility impacts of construction zones. Some reviews may be limited to specific procedures (e.g., review payment methods for traffic control devices), while other reviews will be broader in scope (e.g., review overall performance measures of the construction zone safety and mobility goals and objectives). The review is lead by the MDT Construction Traffic Control Engineer and can answer some of the following questions:

• How are construction zones performing with respect to mobility and safety?
• Are the best possible decisions in planning, designing, and implementing construction zones being made?
• Are customer expectations being met with respect to maintaining safety and mobility and minimizing business and community impacts?
• Can areas for improvement be identified?
• How have areas for improvement that were identified in the past been addressed?
• Should policies or MDT procedures be adjusted based on what has been observed or measured?

Traffic Control Reviews

Work zone traffic control reviews can be a rich source of information to use in conducting work zone process reviews. However, work zone traffic control reviews do not cover all the areas that a process review under the updated Rule should cover. For additional explanation, please refer to the frequently asked questions on this topic. Following are a few examples of this component of a process review.

Colorado Department of Transportation

In July 2004, the Colorado DOT (CDOT) initiated its statewide work zone review program, the Traffic Control Review (TCR) program, in response to management concerns about the quality of temporary traffic control. The purpose of the program is to gather information to evaluate the overall quality and effectiveness of work zone traffic control throughout the Department, to identify areas where improvement is needed, and to facilitate open discussion of traffic control issues. Regions are expected to use the review results to address and correct both project-specific and region-wide issues.

The work zone review procedure (described further in CDOT FY 2008 Quality Assurance Reviews for Work Zone Traffic Control (HTML, DOC 44KB)) involves an on-site review of a sample of projects in each Region. For each review, a team that generally consists of both CDOT and FHWA staff performs a drive-through of the project site and records information and comments on a standard four-page Traffic Control Review form (HTML, XLS 55KB). The team then assigns an overall quality rating, which defines traffic control effectiveness on the project site at the time of the review. Following each Region region review, a debriefing meeting is held to discuss results.

Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas DOT (KDOT) uses a Traffic Control Review Team (TCRT) to review randomly-selected construction and maintenance work areas on the State Highway System and off-system construction projects to determine the effectiveness of traffic control procedures. A minimum of three Districts are reviewed each year by the TCRT, resulting in a biannual review of each district. TCRT members are able to see how traffic control is being implemented and maintained in the field; identify any problem areas in the standard plans, specifications, and individual traffic control plans/transportation management plans; and assess if field practices meet appropriate practices and criteria. An overview of commonly found areas of concern is shared with all the Districts and key KDOT central office staff and is used as a learning tool that helps KDOT achieve high quality traffic control while maintaining uniformity across the State. More information about this example can be found in the KDOT Traffic Control Review Policy.

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