Simulation and analysis of freeway lane reversal for coastal hurricane evacuation

Following the unprecedented multistate evacuation for Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety jointly developed a lane reversal plan for Interstate 40 to facilitate evacuation of residents and tourists in southeastern North Carolina. Prior to the 2003 hurricane season, the NCDOT sponsored a two-year research to address areas of operational concern. The first year research findings resulted in modifications to the original lane reversal plan. The second year's findings showed the modified reversal plan to be effective in expediting evacuation from the coastal threat zone. However, modeling of the entire lane reversal plan revealed a potentially extensive queue formation at the contraflow termination point. This paper presents an overview of the project along with the principal research findings and resulting plan modifications. In addition, this paper highlights conclusions and recommendations applicable to the general emergency evacuation problem.