road construction practices (US State, country, region, etc)

[SSOWorld]

I have found each state does things differently for defining work zone areas.  for example:

Pennsylvania puts its 55 MPH zone on freeways at least 1 mile away from the actual zone start.  They also have a law requiring headlamps on in work zones  
Wisconsin puts its 55 MPH zone closer - maybe about 1500 feet away.
Illinois reduces speeds to 45 mph - and only if workers are present (except on the ISTHA roads which have the limit at all times)
I also remember some states not having reduced speeds at all.

What are the practices in your state

Europe? Canada?  any similar practices?

EDIT: renamed topic

[TheStranger]

California will cone off a lane about a mile before the start of construction (and sometimes a mile or more after!), with an orange diamond "x LEFT/RIGHT LANES CLOSED AHEAD" and several wheeled lightstands with an arrow pointing which side the open lanes are on. 

This was even used yesterday to block off a multi-vehicle collision on the Bayshore Freeway in San Mateo.

[corco]

If it's on the freeway, Wyoming will tier the speeds down from about 1/2 of a mile off, first from 75 to 65, then 65 to either 45 or 55 depending on how close to the road they are- usually 55 though. The speed limit drops the second time within a 1/4 mile of the limit going from 75 to 65.

Off-freeway it tends to be just a one step speed reduction from about half a mile off.

Wyoming is very good about bumping the speed limit back up as soon as the road work is done, too. Idaho is awful at that- they'll lower the speed limit to 55 or 45, then you'll pass the road work, cruise a couple miles, wonder if the work zone is done, cruise a couple more miles, creep back up to the speed limit anyway, then you'll finally find an end road work/speed limit xx sign several miles after the end of the visible work zone.

I've also seen Idaho misuse the reduced speed diamond on a few occasions lately in construction zones, using the sign to indicate an impending increase in speed limit as the zone is about to begin (if one is headed out of a town onto a rural highway under construction) or end

[agentsteel53]

Arizona will enforce speed limits even if the temporary sign has been knocked down and you have no idea what it is.

[74/171FAN]

Virginia normally doesn't lower the speed limit unless the construction project is major like the I-295 flyover project that finished a year or two ago.

[Mergingtraffic]

What type of construction signs are used.  CT DOT uses metal signs with curved edges  for maintenance type stuff such as mowing or gaurd rail fixes etc.

Work done by a contractor usually uses the card-board type signs that looked like they were cut with scizzors.

[J N Winkler]

This practice, from Britain, has caught me out several times.  There is no "shoulder closed" sign in TSRGD, so when the shoulder has to be closed, a keep-right sign is used instead.  It is also used for closing running lanes when traffic is diverted to the right, so a keep-right sign used for a shoulder closure can fool you into an unnecessary lane change.

[JREwing78]

Michigan signs work zones on freeways for 60mph, except for sections where workers are present, which are posted for 45.

[KEK Inc.]

Oregon rarely uses 'end road work' signs.  Theoretically, fines are doubled through the entire state...

Oregon also obsesses over no-passing zones in construction sites on freeways (white solid lines).  I rarely see them in California. 

[vdeane]

NY is like PA, but without the headlights requirement.  Usually speeds get reduced 10mph, sometimes 20mph in 65mph zones.

[Alps]

I may not have this entirely accurate, but I'm going from a months-old plan review.  NJ Turnpike Authority steps down 10 mph at a time.  If going from a 55 to a 45, they would do it at the 1-mile mark (I think).  If going from 65-45 or 55-35, they would post one at the mile mark and another at the half-mile (or else it's 2-miles and 1-miles, I forget).  There is 50 MPH on the I-78 extension, so that probably gets treated like a 55 when stepping down.  The 2-mile, 1-mile, etc. is measured to the first cone in the first taper (lane or shoulder).
If you're in a 55 zone, 55 mph work zones would be reserved for long-term work where you have a barrier up and lanes shifted, MAYBE for some kinds of shoulder work (not certain what would qualify).  45 mph is what you'd see with a shoulder closure and closures of single outside lanes.  35 mph is what you'd see for inside lane closures or multiple lanes closed.  They never do work on both shoulders at the same time.  If you're in a 65 zone, add 10 to all of those.
The NJTA is very open with their specs.  You can go to the Turnpike website and get their latest Standard Drawings - the Traffic Protection (TP) drawings are the ones that show work zone configurations and speeds.  For those of you who've never been, http://www.state.nj.us/turnpike/ is the address and you want to go to Doing Business - Professional Services to see what info they have.  Poking around the other parts of their newly redesigned website can also be fun!

[jgb191]

Here in the land of endless freeway construction/expansion (Texas), I've seen a lot of construction zones with the normal limit of 70 or 75 MPH.  Not very common do I see them reducing it.

[Brian556]

Tennessee: A "MERGE NOW" sign is placed before a lane closure
Arkansas: Several 48x24 arrow signs on stands are used in conjunction with barrels at tapers.
Texas: Lane Shifts poorly marked (no chevron signs) and too sharp. They are the site of most work zone accidents, other than rear end collisions in congestion.

[agentsteel53]

the state that has taken too-sudden lane shifts to a new level is California.  Sometimes even the final production lane shift is pretty abrupt... especially given that the original concrete flows straight.  It's pretty disconcerting.

[realjd]

I was driving through one state a few years back (Arkansas maybe?) where they always closed the same lane. You could count on it - every construction side we went through, the same lane was closed (I can't remember if it was the left or the right). If the opposite lane actually needed closed, they'd close the regular one, then shift traffic to the open one using cones. It seemed like a great idea to help ensure people know what to expect at a construction site. Of course, nowdays, it seems like most states are maintaining at least two open lanes on construction; I don't remember the last time I drove on an interstate that went down to one lane b/c of construction.

[vdeane]

NYSDOT most certainly doesn't do that, but NYSTA does (this results in extra-wide shoulders in the exit 39-40 reconstruction zone).

[brownpelican]

Louisiana lower the speed limit in all construction zones. They also give notice about construction zones to drivers several miles ahead of the actual zone.

[J N Winkler]

Michigan DOT is one of several state highway agencies which make extensive use of custom-designed temporary guide signs (black on orange background, generally with the FHWA alphabet series instead of the Clearview used on permanent guide signs):



The square footage can run in the thousands for major Interstate reconstruction projects.

[Truvelo]

This practice, from Britain, has caught me out several times.  There is no "shoulder closed" sign in TSRGD, so when the shoulder has to be closed, a keep-right sign is used instead.  It is also used for closing running lanes when traffic is diverted to the right, so a keep-right sign used for a shoulder closure can fool you into an unnecessary lane change.

There is a normally a red sign a couple hundred feet before the closure like this

[J N Winkler]

There is a normally a red sign a couple hundred feet before the closure like this

There is nothing about the appearance of that sign that says it is specific to construction workzones, so it is easy to interpret as referring to a brief, but permanent, shoulder discontinuity, and it also does not say that the "Keep right" sign refers only to the shoulder and not to Lane 1.

[Truvelo]

There is a normally a red sign a couple hundred feet before the closure like this

There is nothing about the appearance of that sign that says it is specific to construction workzones, so it is easy to interpret as referring to a brief, but permanent, shoulder discontinuity, and it also does not say that the "Keep right" sign refers only to the shoulder and not to Lane 1.

The permanent one, at least on motorways, is blue.

[codyg1985]

I was driving through one state a few years back (Arkansas maybe?) where they always closed the same lane. You could count on it - every construction side we went through, the same lane was closed (I can't remember if it was the left or the right). If the opposite lane actually needed closed, they'd close the regular one, then shift traffic to the open one using cones. It seemed like a great idea to help ensure people know what to expect at a construction site. Of course, nowdays, it seems like most states are maintaining at least two open lanes on construction; I don't remember the last time I drove on an interstate that went down to one lane b/c of construction.

I believe it is Arkansas that does this. I think it's the right lane that they always close.

Mississippi has a one-lane each way construction zone on I-59 in Laurel. I think it's related to the S-curve project, the maine part of which was finished a couple of years ago.

Alabama will step down speed limits going into the zone about a mile or so before work begins. Alabama doesn't use the reduced speed ahead diamonds called out in the MUTCD with the speed limit in them. Instead, they use a orange diamond sign that simply says "Reduced Speed Ahead," which annoys me to no end. For some reason, if arrow panels are used, they have three chevrons revealed one at a time instead of just a flashing arrow.

[J N Winkler]

The permanent one, at least on motorways, is blue.

Yes, but:

*  White on red is used in many permanent applications (e.g. "REDUCE SPEED NOW").

*  There is still nothing to indicate that the "Keep right" sign refers to closure of the shoulder rather than Lane 1.

The problem is really that a "Keep right" sign is used to indicate the shoulder closure, not that the shoulder closure is indicated by a white-on-red sign.  If the white-on-red sign were used by itself, the signing would not create ambiguity and so would be acceptable.

[bulldog1979]

Michigan signs work zones on freeways for 60mph, except for sections where workers are present, which are posted for 45.

And per state law, they have to post beginning and ending signs for the work zone, or the double penalties can't be applied. In other words, you have to know where the penalties would double or not.

[Truvelo]

Does anywhere in US use fixed speed cameras in construction zones? We have had them for years, mainly on freeways where the work is in place for a few weeks or longer. In the early 2000's a new type of camera that averages your speed between two points gradually took over from the single point cameras as people would slow down for each camera and speed up in between. The use of average speed cameras has increased compliance dramatically even coming from someone like me who can't stand cameras. In the US the only enforcement I've seen in construction zones is the odd cop car but even then the cop is usually parked in a place to protect workers. As I have no idea if covert cameras are used I will never exceed the limit by more than 5mph whereas virtually every other vehicle goes flying past. Are these people familiar with the area and know there is no enforcement or are they gambling with their licenses? Every construction zone I've been to has double penalty signs so if these warnings are just idol threats I can see why so many people ignore them.