An optimization‐based traffic diversion model during construction closures

During major highway construction, when lanes or entire highway sections must be temporarily closed, traffic managers would like to inform motorists of alternative routes around the construction site well in advance of the project location. This study develops a traffic diversion model to propose an optimum alternate route to drivers during a construction activity. The models and algorithms developed in this study assess a potential diversion route to optimize network performance while considering the drivers’ behaviors in following the proposed alternate route during a closure. A bilevel optimization model is proposed to minimize the total travel time of the affected network considering the link closure and a proposed alternate route for the travelers. A travelers’ route choice decision is modeled based on the user equilibrium traffic assignment, whereas a certain percentage of drivers are assumed to divert to the recommended alternate route. A sufficiently large subnetwork is selected, and a path selection method is proposed to reduce the computational effort required to optimize the model. A set of simulation experiments is conducted using the Tarrant County network in north Texas. The results show the ability of the model to improve the overall network performance during hypothetical closure scenarios.