For the study of traffic simulation and SSAM method applied in the field of traffic safety evaluation, a traffic simulation model was established by taking the closure one-lane work zone of expressway as an example, and the vehicle track files, which output from simulation model, was analyzed by using SSAM method. The traffic conflicts and traffic safety conditions of work zone were evaluated according to the SSAM model related index parameters and the number of conflicts. This paper analyzed the traffic characteristics of the one-lane closure work zone based on the data of field survey in the freeway work zone. The vehicle lane changing model and the following model based on the work zone were calibrated. The output files of SSAM model for vehicle trajectory were analyzed, the results showed that the tested work zone produced a total of 16 traffic conflicts within the duration of simulation, all of which were rear-end collisions. The combination of traffic simulation and SSAM method can evaluate the traffic safety effectively, and the results are obvious without a lot of traffic accident history data.