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Components - Planned event strategies

The term "traffic incident" usually conjures dramatic images of vehicle crashes, emergency vehicles and traffic jams. However, ordinary roadway maintenance and construction activities as well as special events such as baseball games, lakefront festivals, parades and other large gatherings are also traffic incidents that will disrupt the normal flow of traffic. These planned events cause traffic congestion similar to a crash blocking highway lanes.

The time, location and scope of a planned event or predictable incident is known in advance, whereas a crash is an unpredictable or unplanned incident. Impacts on the transportation system can be anticipated and appropriate traffic incident management strategies can be implemented prior to and during events to minimize traffic congestion and related problems.

Planned traffic incident management strategies include:

• Informing the public of available travel options such as public transit or alternate travel routes that may be used during an event.
• Operating temporary extra public transit service to help alleviate traffic and parking congestion during an event.
• Using remote parking areas, such as park and ride lots served by shuttle buses, to help alleviate traffic and parking congestion near an event.
• Providing extra law enforcement personnel near an event to assist travelers, direct traffic and clear disabled vehicles from roadways.
• Implementing special traffic control measures such as closing freeway ramps, detouring traffic to special routes and adjusting traffic signals to help move vehicles more safely and efficiently during an event.
• Operating the MONITOR freeway traffic management system to support safe and efficient freeway travel during the event.

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Questions about the content of this page:
Traffic Operations Center, statewide.toc@dot.wi.gov
Last modified: August 1, 2012