A study of the effects of pavement widening, rumble strips, and rumble stripes on rural highways in Alabama : final report.

Details

• Creators:
  Turochy, Rod E. ; Ozelim, Luana
• Corporate Creators:
  Auburn University. Highway Research Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  Alabama. Department of Transportation ; United States. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Crash data
  • Traffic models
  • Traffic safety
  • Calibration
  • Benefit cost analysis
  • Pavement widening
  • Rumble strips
  • Road construction
  • Rural highways
  • Rumble strips
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• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA/ALDOT 930-827
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Alabama
• Edition:
  Final report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Auburn University. Highway Research Center
• Abstract:
  In an effort to address this particularly frequent and severe crash type, the Alabama Department of ; Transportation (ALDOT) implemented a policy in February 2006 to widen pavements and install ; milled-in rumble strips when rural two-lane highways with less than 28 ft of pavement width are ; resurfaced. On the vast majority of these roadways, little or no hard-surfaced shoulder had ; previously existed. The policy determined that upon resurfacing, shoulders were to be ; strengthened, 2 ft of full-depth pavement added on each side of the roadway, and in some cases, ; rumble strips or stripes were scored into the pavement within the 2 ft shoulder. In practice, this ; policy was extended to four-lane divided rural roads and paved shoulders widths were in a range ; from 2 to 4 ft. ; The practice of pavement widening, or shoulder wedging, to provide an additional recovery ; area for errant vehicles leaving the travel lane but prior to leaving the pavement surface is ; becoming increasingly common in many states. Although this had previously been done in ; isolated cases in Alabama, this new policy represents a major effort to reduce roadway departure ; crashes on rural roadways over the next several years. ; Due to the level of investment associated with this policy, and its intended safety benefits, ; a study to quantify the potential benefits is worthy of consideration, and its findings could possibly ; be used to further support this initiative. The Empirical Bayes (EB) method, as outlined in the ; Highway Safety Manual, the equivalent property damage only (EPDO) analysis, and the benefit-cost analysis are proposed to address safety effectiveness of the countermeasures implemented in Alabama. The objectives of this study are as follows: ; 1. Document the state of the practice and results of prior research; ; 2. Estimate reduction in run-off-road (ROR) crashes, by severity, based on the data, applying ; both EB and EPDO methods ; 3. Develop crash modification factors for the following five treatments: ; - Paving 2 to 4 ft of unpaved shoulders on two-lane rural roads; ; - Combined effect of paving 2 to 4 ft of unpaved shoulder and adding rumble strips ; on two-lane rural roads; ; - Combined effect of paving 2 to 4 ft of unpaved shoulder and adding rumble stripes ; on two-lane rural roads; ; - Paving 2 to 4 ft of unpaved shoulders on four-lane divided rural roads; ; - Combined effect of paving 2 to 4 ft of unpaved shoulder and adding rumble strips ; on four-lane divided rural roads; ; 4. Quantify the benefits and costs of the ALDOT policy; ; 5. Make recommendations for future application. This report is not intended for construction, bidding, or permit purposes.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  ALDOT Project 930-827
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32193/dot_32193_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.42 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:f3376910214480904db5a5965ea6a5f4d2894a2b2524716fc96674ee7a98acaf