Assessing the Safety Issues Associated with Isolated Rural Intersections
Due to the relatively low traffic volumes on many rural high-speed roadways roads, it is often not cost-effective to upgrade the roads and not warranted to implement active traffic control devices such as traffic lights to improve safety at intersections and sometimes it may be even counterproductive. However, vehicles traveling on these roadways generally have high speeds and, thus, tend to have relatively more severe injuries when vehicle crashes do occur. In addition, many rural roadways also have high truck volumes and suffer from truck-related safety issues. Although local communities with problematic isolated intersections request traffic signals be installed, often these intersections do not meet the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (TMUTCD) traffic signal warrants. Furthermore, the placement of a traffic signal at an isolated signal can also create a driver expectancy issue for the traveling public. The purpose of this research is to compile crash and operational data and perform a comprehensive assessment of the risk factors and root causes of crashes involving rural intersections, prioritize the risk factors, identify and evaluate safety countermeasures, and recommend the most effective, low-cost countermeasures for safety promotion.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Completed
- Funding: $266800
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Contract Numbers:
0-6931
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Sponsor Organizations:
Texas Department of Transportation
125 E. 11th Street
Austin, TX United States 78701-2483 -
Project Managers:
Jensen, Darrin
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Performing Organizations:
University of Texas, San Antonio
1 UTSA Circle
San Antonio, TX United States 78249 -
Principal Investigators:
Sharif, Hatim
- Start Date: 20160901
- Expected Completion Date: 20180831
- Actual Completion Date: 20180831
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Crash analysis; Crash severity; Isolated intersections; Rural highways; Safety; Truck crashes; Unsignalized intersections
- Identifier Terms: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices
- Geographic Terms: Texas
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01626209
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
- Contract Numbers: 0-6931
- Files: RIP, STATEDOT
- Created Date: Feb 17 2017 2:45PM