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Click to edit Master title style2018 ACEC-FL Transportation Conference – May 31, 2018

Emergency Shoulder Use (ESU) in Florida

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Agenda

• What is Emergency Shoulder Use (ESU)?

• ESU Components

• ESU Criteria

• ESU Benefits and Challenges

• ESU Concept Plans

• ESU Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Hurricane Irma ESU

• 2018 ESU Corridors

• Design and Construction on ESU Corridors

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What is Emergency Shoulder Use (ESU)?

• Shoulder Use for Emergency Evacuation or ESU▪ Allows for use of shoulder during emergency

▪ Left shoulder use in six-lane roadway

▪ Right shoulder use in four-lane roadway

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ESU Components

• Proactive coordination with the stakeholders

• Field reviews

• Active and upcoming construction projects

• Concept Plans

• Incident management plans

• Standard operating procedures

• Law enforcement deployment plan

• Public Education

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ESU Criteria

• ESU shoulder width criteria

▪ At least 10’ shoulder should be available

▪ Shoulder width less than 10’ and greater than 9’ is considered a “Narrow Shoulder”

▪ Shoulder width less than 9’ is considered a “Pinch Point”

• “Narrow Shoulder” treatment requires

▪ Additional signing – both static and Portable Changeable Message Sign (PCMS)

• “Pinch Point” treatment

▪ Pinch points will have permanent solution.

▪ If permanent solution is not implemented prior to hurricane, a temporary traffic control plan is available.

• Additional enforcement and PCMS

▪ ESU limits may be adjusted if needed

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SIX-LANE SECTION

FOUR-LANE SECTION



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ESU Benefits and Challenges

Benefits• Arterial and local roads are not disrupted

• Significantly less resources compared to one-way operation▪ Law Enforcement

▪ FDOT staff

▪ Traffic cones, barriers, signs, arrow boards, etc.

• Shorter-notice implementation and shutdown

• Flexibility to implement in sections where there is congestion

• Flexibility to adjust corridors and limits to respond to changing hurricane track

• Does not impact opposite-direction responder flow as first responders head towards incident

• Does not impact pre-staging of post-event assets using opposite direction

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Challenges• One of the shoulders is not dedicated to responders

▪ Emergency Assistance Vehicle (EAV) and Road Rangers

• Rumble strips in travel way▪ Buses, trucks, and trailers restricted from shoulders. Rumble

strips are traversable and remind to reduce speed.

• Reduced travel lane▪ Buses, trucks, and trailers restricted from shoulders. Narrower

lane encourages reduced speed.

• Shoulders need to be debris-free prior to use▪ FDOT Maintenance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• Shoulders need to be kept debris-free during operation▪ FDOT ESU Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)



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ESU Benefits

1. Able to use in overnight hours2. Allowed incident response from opposing

direction3. Allowed efficient pre-staging of post-storm

recovery assets

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ESU Concept Plans

• Coordination between▪ FDOT and State Emergency Operation Center

▪ FDOT and Florida Highway Patrol

▪ FDOT and Federal Highway Administration

▪ FDOT and Georgia Department of Transportation

• ESU plans address▪ Begin and end treatments

▪ Interchange, rest area, and recreation area treatments

▪ Narrow shoulder and pinch point treatments

▪ Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) location and crossover identification

▪ Sign color, type, message, location, and spacing

▪ EAV locations (concept only)

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ESU Concept Plan Examples

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Begin/End Treatment Left Shoulder Use Typical Interchange

Right Shoulder Use On Ramp Narrow Shoulder Treatment



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ESU Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

• District SOPs▪ Developed for each corridor and are Living Documents

• Coordinated effort of FDOT, Law Enforcement, and FDOT Contracting Partners

▪ Establish the operations required to be prepared for and to implement ESU as shown in the Concept Plans for each corridor

▪ Establish who, what, when, where, and how the operations will be performed

▪ Six primary sections

• Organization Structure and Communication

• Equipment List

• Pre-Implementation Operations Under Blue Skies

• Pre-Implementation Operations Under Pending Gray Skies

• Implementation Operations

• Post-Implementation Operations

▪ Establish the timeframes to implement once the direction to implement is given

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ESU SOPs – Emergency Roadside Assistance Services (ERAS)

• ERAS will be provided on all ESU corridors and will be supplemented by Road Ranger Service where available

• There is no Perfect Solution

• The primary goal is to keep traffic moving

• Responsibilities include▪ Relocating disabled vehicles out of the travel lane

▪ Providing fuel

▪ Changing tires

▪ Performing other minor (short-term) vehicle repairs to restore for travel

▪ Provide transportation for the disabled vehicle occupants

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Hurricane Irma ESU – Background

• Tropical Storm on August 30th

• Reached hurricane status on August 31st

• Reached Florida as a Category 4

• Landfall in the Keys and near Marco Island on September 10th

Source: The Weather Channel



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Path Prediction

Source: National Hurricane Center



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Path Shift Westward

Source: National Hurricane Center



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Background



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Mandatory Evacuation

“If you have been ordered to evacuate, you need to leave now…” - Gov. Rick Scott

• September 4th Florida Declares State of Emergency to prepare Florida for Hurricane Irma

• Estimated 6.8 million people ordered to evacuate

• Evacuation by County

Source: The Weather Channel



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Hurricane Irma ESU – News Releases

FDOT News Releases• No contraflow or one-

way operation• No other roadways

currently approved for shoulder use

• Law enforcement urges motorist to use caution

• FDOT is constantly monitoring traffic flow

http://www.fdot.gov/info/CO/news/newsreleases/default.shtm



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Alerts



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Hurricane Irma ESU – I-75

• September 7, 2017

▪ ESU Implementation at 8 PM

▪ I-75 from Wildwood to CR 136 north of I-10


▪ Terminus was extended to the Georgia State Line

▪ Start was extended approximately 2 miles


▪ ESU operation terminated at approximately 11AM



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September 9, 2017

• Implementation at 3:00 PM

• I-4 from 50th Street (US 41) in Tampa to the Western Beltway (SR 429) in Orlando

• ESU terminus extended to Central Florida Greenway (SR 417)

• Terminated at approximately 8 PM

Hurricane Irma ESU – I-4



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Successes

• Largest evacuation in US history achieved with ample time before tropical storm force winds hit impacted areas

▪ Unprecedented storm path up the middle of the State impacted all Districts

• Emergency Shoulder Use successfully implemented

▪ I-75 from Wildwood to the Georgia State Line

▪ I-4 from Tampa to Orlando

▪ No traffic fatalities due to ESU

▪ Emergency Response Vehicles, including out-of-state responders, were still allowed to travel opposite direction to pre-stage assets



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Hurricane Irma ESU – Challenges

• Pockets of free flow speeds within corridors

• Illegal use of shoulders

▪ During evacuation on non-ESU corridors

▪ During re-entry

• Back-up on I-75 at Georgia State Line



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2018 ESU Corridors

▪ I-4 Eastbound from US 41 in Tampa to SR 417 in Osceola County

• FDOT Districts 7, 1, and 5

▪ I-10 Westbound from SR 23 in Duval County to US 319 in Tallahassee

• FDOT Districts 2 and 3

▪ I-75 Northbound from US 27 in Broward County to Georgia State Line

• Except for Pasco County/Hernando County Line to Wildwood due to active construction project

• FDOT Districts 4, 1, 7, 5 and 2

▪ I-75 (Alligator Alley) Southbound from SR 951 in Collier County to US 27 in Broward County

• FDOT Districts 1 and 4

▪ I-95 Northbound from SR 70 in Fort Pierce to I-295 in Duval County

• FDOT Districts 4, 5, and 2

▪ Turnpike Mainline from SR 50 in Winter Garden to US 301 in Wildwood

• FDOT Turnpike

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Design and Construction on ESU Corridors

• Roadway Design Bulletin 18-05 / Traffic Engineering and Operations Bulletin 18-01

• FDOT Design Manual (FDM) 211.4.6▪ Provide minimum 10’ paved shoulder on ESU routes

▪ Routes are found at FDOT EM Website: http://www.fdot.gov/emergencymanagement/esu/

▪ Portion of shoulder gutter may be included – Figure 211.4.5

▪ Direction on resurfacing projects where paved or usable shoulder widths < 10’

▪ Direction on location of median barrier

• FDM 240.1.1▪ Maintain FDM 211.4.6 requirements during all phases of construction

▪ Design Variation must be approved by Chief Engineer

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http://www.fdot.gov/emergencymanagement/esu/



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Thank you.

Questions?

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