SPR-2321: Safety Evaluation of Alternatives for Installing Pedestrian Signals Under Side Street Green Operation

The objective of this project is to carry out a safety evaluation of the proposed conversion of intersections owned by Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) operating under side street green pedestrian phasing to concurrent pedestrian phasing. The motivation for CTDOT to consider this new signal operation is to provide better consistency in communication to pedestrians and motorists about what to expect from the signal operation, and when pedestrians should and should not be crossing the road, while avoiding misleading pedestrians into believing they do not need to interact with motor vehicles while crossing the road. It is noted that because the proposed use of “Walk” and “Don’t Walk” signal indications with concurrent pedestrian phase operation is completely new to many Connecticut motorists and pedestrians, it will be essential to include an educational campaign that includes testing of public understanding of the new signal operation. Further, in order to properly attribute observed outcomes to the treatment, it will be necessary to set up a before and after study design, preferably with control locations that remain using Side Street Green operation and including locations that implement concurrent phasing both with and without auxiliary signage warning pedestrians and motorists that they will be sharing a signal phase. It would also be helpful to include some locations with exclusive pedestrian phasing for additional comparison, to confirm or update findings from the previous study of how the new concurrent pedestrian phasing compares with the exclusive pedestrian phasing in terms of improving pedestrian safety. The safety evaluation will include observation of and analysis of differences in the following for both treatment and control intersections: changes in expected crash experience; distribution of pedestrian-vehicle interaction severity; compliance of pedestrians with the pedestrian signal operation; and compliance of motorists with pedestrian signal operation. The treatment and control intersections will compose four groups as detailed in the work plan below: locations converted from side street green to concurrent phasing with auxiliary signage; locations converted from side street green to concurrent phasing without auxiliary signage; locations with side street green kept as is; and locations with exclusive pedestrian phasing kept “as is”. This project will include the following phased scope of work: (Phase I) Identification of locations for treatment, preparation of the study design, and collection of before data. (Phase II) Installation of new signal devices at treatment locations, both with and without auxiliary signage, along with an educational campaign and testing of public understanding. (Phase III) Collection of after data, analysis of before and after data, and completion of final report.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $200,000
• Contract Numbers:

  SPR-2321

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Connecticut Department of Transportation

  2800 Berlin Turnpike
  P. O. Box 317546
  Newington, CT  United States  06131-7546
• Managing Organizations:

  Connecticut Department of Transportation

  2800 Berlin Turnpike
  P. O. Box 317546
  Newington, CT  United States  06131-7546
• Project Managers:

  Zimyeski, Melanie

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Connecticut, Storrs

  Connecticut Transportation Institute
  270 Middle Turnpike, Unit 5202
  Storrs, CT  United States  06269-5202
• Principal Investigators:

  Ivan, John N

• Start Date: 20210511
• Expected Completion Date: 20230630
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Pedestrian phase; Traffic safety; Traffic signal control systems
• Geographic Terms: Connecticut
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01853897
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Connecticut Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: SPR-2321
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 3 2022 11:38PM