Effective incident management can substantially reduce congestion while expediting incident clearance.  In Oregon, the ODOT has a comprehensive incident management program in place.  Due to cooperative efforts among ODOT, Oregon State Police, local police, and emergency providers most incidents are cleared rapidly and traffic operations resume normally.  However, a major traffic-related incident can take considerable time to clear and the closure of a major highway during peak travel periods can cause major problems. The economic impact can be considerable when road closures and delays occur in a metropolitan area such as Portland.  It is not known to what extent institutional constraints may account for inefficiencies that result in extended time elapsing from incident detection through final site clearance. 

The research proposed in this study will address several key objectives.  Using a variety of data resources, the research team will examine recent traffic incidents in the Portland area to determine the extent to which the incident and associated traffic obstructions impacted systemic traffic operations.  The research team will also develop an enhanced implementation plan for addressing institutional barriers that may affect the rapid clearance of incidents occurring on Oregon highways.  Finally, this research effort will ultimately help identify specific legislative initiatives or administrative procedures that should be implemented to minimize delayed incident clearance and estimate the benefit of the recommended changes.