{"id":8620,"date":"2018-12-07T00:33:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-07T08:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/?p=8620"},"modified":"2025-12-22T00:34:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T08:34:25","slug":"portable-rumble-strips-made-in-shingle-springs-get-drivers-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newsmolo.com\/EDC\/2019\/2018\/12\/07\/portable-rumble-strips-made-in-shingle-springs-get-drivers-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Portable Rumble Strips made in Shingle Springs Get Driver’s Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

PR Pond]<\/em><\/p>\n

Road-Tech Safety Services\u00a0Inc.<\/a>, located in Shingle Springs, Calif., about 40 miles east of Sacramento, provides equipment rental and sales, traffic control supplies, and traffic control services to the highway construction industry.<\/p>\n

Last summer, Road-Tech provided traffic control services for a Calaveras County Water District project at the intersection of California S.R. 26 and Vista Del Lago Drive. The two-month project involved laying water pipes across S.R. 26. As such, the traffic control plans called for lane shifts of one and two lanes.<\/p>\n

Early in the project, Ben Jeffrey, Road-Tech Traffic Control Supervisor, noticed that most drivers were traveling through the work zone about 20 mph over the posted 45 mph speed limit.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey has long observed seemingly counter-intuitive behavior from distracted drivers: they attempt to maintain their speed throughout a work zone, regardless of whether they exceed the posted speed limit. They do so because they are distracted; they are not focused on their surroundings.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey and crew also estimated that about 30% of the drivers were actively using their cell phones while driving through the work zone. The combination of excessive speeds and distracted drivers could lead to serious crashes, and perhaps fatalities.<\/p>\n

Though the plans did not call for them, a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) safety manager suggested that temporary portable rumble strips (TPRS) would reduce or prevent crashes.<\/p>\n

Designed to reduce crashes and save lives,\u00a0RoadQuake\u00a0Temporary Portable Rumble Strips<\/a>(TPRS) alert drivers to changing road conditions, like upcoming lane closures and other work-zone applications.<\/p>\n

RoadQuake TPRS is a temporary, transverse rumble strip, installed perpendicular to the direction of travel. Drivers feel the vibrations and hear the familiar \u201cbumpety-bump, thumpety-thump\u201d sounds of tires traveling over the rumble strips.<\/p>\n

Sounds and vibrations generated by RoadQuake TPRS are significant: A University of Kansas Transportation Center study determined that RoadQuake TPRS conveys sounds and vibrations at levels similar to ground-in, or milled, permanent rumble strips.<\/p>\n

The water district authorized the addition of rumble strips to the traffic control plan. Road-Tech then deployed two sets of RoadQuake 2F TPRS arrays, three strips to an array. Road-Tech placed one array 1,000 ft and another 500 ft before the lane shift. For optimal effectiveness, they deployed strips about 15 ft apart on center.<\/p>\n

With rumble strip arrays deployed, Road-Tech saw positive results immediately. Jeffrey reports that they witnessed a \u201chuge\u201d number of drivers reduce their speed.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Road-Tech no longer saw drivers use their cell phones after crossing the arrays. Drivers put their phones down and returned their attention to their driving.<\/p>\n

While PSS does not consider RoadQuake a speed-reduction device, speed reduction is often an ancillary benefit when arrays are deployed. As such, Jeffrey\u2019s observations are consistent with several reports about RoadQuake TPRS performance.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) engineers tested RoadQuake TPRS in\u00a0October 2016<\/a>.\u00a0MassDOT saw an average speed reduction in this test of 7.8 mph. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) conducted tests and published \u201cRoadQuake Temporary Portable Rumble Strip Pilot Project\u201d in\u00a0May 2016<\/a>. They reported speed reductions of 3-5 mph.<\/p>\n

More importantly, PTC conducted tests of driver behavior in a lane closure\/merge work zone.<\/p>\n