A benefit-cost analysis tool for assessing guardrail needs for two-lane rural roads in Virginia.

Details

• Creators:
  Appiah, Justice ; Cottrell, Benjamin H., Jr.
• Corporate Creators:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council
• Corporate Contributors:
  Virginia. Dept. of Transportation ; United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Benefit Cost Analysis Guardrails Low Volume Roads Needs Assessment Rural Areas Two Lane Highways
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/VTRC 16-R5
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  Virginia
• Corporate Publisher:
  Virginia Transportation Research Council
• Abstract:
  Guardrail is installed along the roadside to shield hazards such as steep slopes and bridge piers from vehicles. Although
  
  the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Road Design Manual provides guidance for determining where to install guardrail on
  
  new facilities, there is no consistent approach available for evaluating guardrail needs on existing roads that explicitly considers
  
  costs and benefits.
  
  This study developed such an approach, focusing on low volume, two-lane rural roadways in Virginia. The Roadside
  
  Safety Analysis Program (RSAP)—developed under NCHRP Project 22-27 and currently the most sophisticated tool available for
  
  conducting cost-effectiveness analysis of roadside safety treatment options—was used to determine expected crash frequencies,
  
  severities, and costs for several combinations of hazard scenarios; guardrail treatment options; and relevant roadway, roadside,
  
  and traffic characteristics. The results of the RSAP analysis were used to develop a predictive model that relates the input
  
  variables to the output response (benefit/cost ratio). The model is implemented in a simple spreadsheet for the quick and efficient
  
  evaluation of proposed guardrail treatment options without the need for full-blown RSAP analysis. Application of the spreadsheet
  
  tool is demonstrated through example problems.
  
  A comparison of the tool’s modeling results with results obtained from RSAP is presented. The comparative results
  
  show that benefit/cost ratio estimates provided by the tool are in good agreement with those provided by RSAP. These results
  
  indicate that the simplified tool meets the requirements to serve as a surrogate for RSAP analysis and is therefore recommended
  
  for benefit/cost evaluations of proposed guardrail treatment options for low volume, two-lane rural roadways in Virginia.
  
  
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  104588
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:d5d99f8bbfa3b695d5b1586ff34d91a8176f708b1f965d75615cc02af89be5a9
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/29696/dot_29696_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 472.39 KB ]