Indiana lane merge system for work zones on rural freeways

The Indiana Department of Transportation and Purdue University have been in vestigating and implementing a novel traffic control system at two-lane fre eway work zone entries to reduce the number of aggressive lane changes clos e to the lane taper. The system creates a variable no passing zone through a series of dynamic "DO NOT PASS" signs activated in response to congestion detected on the continuous lane. The Purdue team investigated the operatio nal effect of the system to develop preliminary guidelines for system deplo yment. The research results indicate that the system improves drivers' beha vior toward more safety and reduces travel time in the continuous lane. The simulation model developed at Purdue was used to generate data and formula te rules for system deployment.