A project currently underway at the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT) has been recognized as one of the top high value research projects in the U.S. by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Research Advisory Committee.
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A project currently underway at the Illinois Center for Transportation (ICT) has been recognized as one of the top high value research projects in the U.S. by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Research Advisory Committee.
The project "Speed Photo Enforcement in Illinois Work Zones," is listed in the AASHTO Research Advisory Committee (RAC) Value of Research task force's public relations brochure on high value research. The brochure was prepared for the AASHTO Standing Committee on Research, for whom RAC serves as an advisory body, and for State DOT CEOs.
Rahim Benekohal, an ICT researcher and professor of civil and environmental engineering at Illinois serves as principal invesigator for the project whose objective was to determine the effectiveness of speed photo-radar enforcement in work zones as compared to traditional enforcement methods such as police presence and speed indicator signs.
Speed photo-radar enforcement was found to be most effective at reducing speeds for both cars and trucks. As a result, Illinois has implemented speed photo-radar enforcement statewide in work zones using specially trained state police officers to deploy bans equipped with speed photo-radar enforcement equipment, review and approve violations for citation issuance, and appear in court for adjudication of all approved work zone citations. The final report for this project may be viewed at http://ict.illinois.edu/Publications/report%20files/FHWA-ICT-10-064.pdf.
Contact: Rahim F. (Ray) Benekohal, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 217/244-6288.
Writer: Leslie Sweet Myrick, editor, Illinois Center for Transportation, 217/893-0705, ext. 225.
If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.