United States Department of Transportation
i
Safety and Operational Analysis with Mitigation Strategies for Freeway Truck Traffic in Wyoming
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2020-03-01
[PDF-2.70 MB]
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Edition:Final Report (March 2018 – March 2020)
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Abstract:Interstate 80, in Wyoming, is characterized by heavy truck traffic, with an average of 47 percent of heavy trucks in the traffic flow. Trucks have significantly different physical and driving characteristics than passenger cars, especially on grades, which has impacts on operational efficiency and safety. The presence of heavy vehicles reduces the capacity of freeway segments, with the reduction being more significant along specific grades. This study explores safety and operational performance along I-80, with a focus on the benefits of climbing lanes along steep grades. Crash rate analysis indicated that the truck crash rates are higher than all vehicle crash rates. The analysis of major contributing factors showed that 54 percent of truck crashes occurred during icy road condition, snowy weather condition contributed to about 46 percent, and driving too fast and driving in improper lane contributed to approximately 45 percent of total truck related crashes. The maximum percentage of truck crashes occurred within a 4000-6000 ft curve radius range, however, this was not found to be significant. The results show that the addition of climbing lanes reduces delays and increases overall traffic speeds on upgrades, and can reduce the total crashes and truck-related crashes 6 to 34 percent, and 1 to 16 percent, respectively, depending on the analyzed location and applied methodology. The 20-year benefit-cost ratio for climbing lanes installation was found to be between 2 and 11, depending on the location. The majority of fatal crashes on I-80 occurred in car-truck collisions. Impaired driving, use of alcohol or illegal drugs, not using seatbelts, fatigue and dangerous driving were found to increase the injury severity significantly. A large portion of truck-related crashes had tire failure as the main contributing factor
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