1. State of the Practice & Crash Data
Key informant interviews with DOT personnel across nine Northeast states, paired with a regional analysis of 2018–2022 work zone crash data.
Optimizing Work Zone Safety Across the Northeast
A nine-state collaborative developing actionable guidelines to reduce work zone crashes, protect workers, and improve the driver experience.
About the project
The Northeast Collaborative to Optimize Work Zone Safety Guidelines is a UMassSafe (University of Massachusetts Amherst) project funded under the FHWA 2023 Work Zone Safety Grant Program, Area 2: Highway Work Zone Safety Guidelines Development.
The collaborative synthesizes the state of the practice, regional crash data, and a large-scale driver survey across nine Northeastern states into the Northeast Work Zone Safety Improvement Plan (NEWZSIP), a practical set of guideline enhancement opportunities for state DOTs.
Three project tasks
2. Driver Experience Survey
A geo-targeted survey of 1,192 Northeast drivers (Qualtrics; IRB Protocol #6509) capturing how drivers perceive and behave in work zones.
3. Safety Improvement Plan & Webinar
The culminating NEWZSIP deliverable plus a dissemination webinar, translating findings into guideline enhancement opportunities.
States covered
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Help shape the final plan
The improvement plan is still in development, and there is time to weigh in before it is finalized. Practitioners, agencies, and drivers are all welcome to share input, resources, and corrections.