Impact of Non-Freeway Rumble Strips - Phase 1

In an effort to reduce lane-departure crashes, in 2008 the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) began a three-year statewide non-freeway rumble strip installation initiative. This initiative called for the installation of milled centerline rumble strips on all rural non-freeway highways with a posted speed limit of 55 mph and a paved roadway width greater than 20 ft and shoulder rumble strips on roadways with paved shoulders that were at least 6 ft wide. Approximately 5,400 miles of non-freeway roadways were ultimately included in this rumble strip installation initiative. As this initiative was believed to be the largest of its kind in the United States at the time, it was important for MDOT to evaluate the impacts associated with the rumble strip installations to provide guidance for future implementation both within Michigan and other states. The objectives of this study included: identification and analysis of “Before” traffic crashes; assessment of impact of rumble strips on driver behavior, bicyclist safety, roadside noise, and short term pavement performance. Several field data collection efforts were undertaken in order to accomplish the objectives. Based on the results of the evaluation, it is concluded that rumble strips on high-speed non-freeway highways improves driver performance on most highways and traffic scenarios. Vehicles produced higher levels of roadside noise when traveling over the rumble strips compared to normal passbys. The rumble strip noise typically did not exceed the roadside noise level produced by tractor trailer trucks traveling on normal highways. Finally, centerline rumble strips did not contribute to short-term transverse cracking in asphalt pavements. Three years of “Before” crash data were analyzed to identify the target crashes that is expected to be alleviated by the installation of centerline rumble strips on MDOT’s high-speed trunkline (non-freeway) system.

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• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/24735
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/24736
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/24737
• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/24734
• Supplemental Notes:
  • The URLs for the appendices are included. Appendix part 1 contains 36 pages; part 2 contains 21 pages; part 3 contains 35 pages.
• Corporate Authors:

  Wayne State University

  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
  Transportation Research Group
  Detroit, MI  United States  48202

  Michigan Department of Transportation

  Office of Research and Best Practices, 425 West Ottawa, P.O. Box 30050
  Lansing, MI  United States  48909

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Datta, Tapan K
  • Gates, Timothy J
  • Savolainen, Peter T
• Publication Date: 2012-6-26

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 91p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Center lines; Crashes; Noise; Pavement performance; Ran off road crashes; Road shoulders; Rumble strips; Rural highways; Traffic crashes; Traffic safety
• Geographic Terms: Michigan
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01443816
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: RC-1575, ORBP Reference Number: OR09084A
• Contract Numbers: 2009-0748
• Files: NTL, TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Aug 27 2012 9:04AM