TRAFFIC SIGNAL INVENTORY
AFTER THE HIGHWAY PLANNING SURVEY HAD BEEN ORGANIZED AND ITS ORIGINAL GOALS PARTLY ACCOMPLISHED, MARYLAND, LIKE MANY OTHER STATES, FOUND ITSELF CALLED ON TO STUDY HIGHWAY LOCATIONS WITH HIGH ACCIDENT RATES, REQUESTS FOR SIGNALS, SPEED ZONING, AND OTHER TRAFFIC ENGINEERING PROBLEMS. IN MANY CASES THIS ACTIVITY LED TO FORMATION OF A TRAFFIC DIVISION WITHIN THE STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION, AND THIS HAS BEEN THE CASE IN MARYLAND. IN THE MEANTIME, SIGNALS HAD BEEN INSTALLED ON SOME HIGHWAYS WITHOUT ADEQUATE PRIOR ANALYSIS, AND THEIR USEFULNESS CAME INCREASINGLY INTO QUESTION. DURING 1947 THE MARYLAND STATE ROADS COMMISSION UNDERTOOK AN ANALYSIS OF THE 14 SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS ON U.S. 40 BETWEEN BALTIMORE AND THE DELAWARE LINE, A DISTANCE OF 50 MILES. ALL SIGNALS WERE TRAFFIC-ACTUATED OR SEMITRAFFIC-ACTUATED. INFORMATION ABOUT ALL ACCIDENTS ON THIS STRETCH WAS RECORDED. SEVERAL EXAMPLES ARE PRESENTED. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT TRAFFIC SIGNALS ON RURAL HIGH-SPEED HIGHWAYS ARE MORE THAN LIKELY TO BE THE SOURCE OF ACCIDENTS RATHER THAN A MEANS OF PREVENTING THEM.
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Supplemental Notes:
- Vol 19, No 5, PP 16-20, 1 TAB
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Authors:
- Lewis, G N
- Publication Date: 1949-5
Media Info
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Serial:
- Highway Research Abstracts
- Publisher: Highway Research Board (HRB)
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Crash rates; Rural highways; Traffic signals
- Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00226238
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Jun 28 1972 12:00AM