CHANNELIZATION AND ACCIDENTS FEDERAL BOULEVARD, DENVER COLORADO 1965

THE INSTALLATION OF CONTINUOUS LEFT TURN CHANNELIZATION WAS ACCOMPLISHED ON 30.8 MILES OF TWO-WAY MAJOR ARTERIAL STREETS DURING THE PERIOD OF 1962 THROUGH 1964. IN THIS PERIOD, THE CHANNELIZATION WAS MARKED WITH 12 INCH SOLID YELLOW LINES AND 14 INCH CAST IRON TRAFFIC BUTTONS. THE CONTINUOUS LEFT TURN CHANNELIZATION PROGRAM WAS EXPANDED IN 1965 TO A TOTAL OF 35.9 MILES, NEARLY ALL OF THE TRAFFIC BUTTONS WERE REMOVED, AND THE PAVEMENT MARKING WAS CHANGED TO A DOUBLE YELLOW CENTERLINE MARKING ONLY. THE FOUR MILE SECTION OF FEDERAL BOULEVARD BETWEEN WEST COLFAX AVENUE AND WEST JEWELL AVENUE WAS MARKED WITH CONTINUOUS LEFT TURN LANE CHANNELIZATION IN THE SUMMER OF 1962. ACCIDENT RECORDS FOR THE FEDERAL BOULEVARD PROJECT WERE EXAMINED FOR THE YEARS 1961 AND 1963, TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF CONTINUOUS CHANNELIZATION ON ACCIDENTS. EXAMINING THE BEFORE AND AFTER ACCIDENT HISTORY, THE FOLLOWING SIGNIFICANT ACCIDENT REDUCTIONS WERE ACHIEVED AT INTERSECTIONS NOT PREVIOUSLY CHANNELIZED: (1) A 52% REDUCTION IN REAR END ACCIDENTS, (2) A 28% REDUCTION IN INJURY ACCIDENTS, AND (3) A 28% REDUCTION IN TOTAL ACCIDENTS. USING NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL ACCIDENT COST ESTIMATES, THE SAVINGS IN ACCIDENT COST TO THE COMMUNITY ON FEDERAL BOULEVARD IS $151,200 PER YEAR. EXPANDING THIS RATE TO THE 30.8 MILES CHANNELIZED THROUGH 1964, THE SAVINGS IN ACCIDENT COST IS $1,170,000 PER YEAR. BASED UPON THE IMPROVED TRAFFIC FLOW, THE ACCIDENT REDUCTION AND THE ATTENDANT DOLLAR SAVINGS AS A RESULT OF ACCIDENT REDUCTION, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT CONTINUOUS LEFT TURN CHANNELIZATION BE UTILIZED WHEREVER SPACE CAN BE PROVIDED ON THE STREET. /SRIS/

• Corporate Authors:

  Colorado Department of Public Works

  Division of Traffic Engineering
  Denver, CO  United States 
• Publication Date: 1965

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Costs; Crashes; Injuries; Left turns; Rear end crashes; Records management; Reduction (Chemistry); Road markings; Traffic flow
• Uncontrolled Terms: Channelization; Records
• Old TRIS Terms: Buttons; Reduction; Traffic marking
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00220844
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
• Report/Paper Numbers: 10 pp
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 15 1970 12:00AM