Safety Impacts of Access Management Techniques in Utah

Traffic volumes and congestion across Utah have continued to increase in recent years, particularly on arterial streets. This increased traffic volume has amplified the emphasis on implementing access management techniques (i.e., raised medians or driveway consolidation) to alleviate some of the safety concerns associated with access on arterial streets. To determine the safety benefits provided by access management techniques in Utah, an evaluation of the safety performance of arterials in which access management techniques have been implemented within the state was performed. To complete the evaluation, a unique, yet proven, tool available through the Utah Department of Transportation was used. This tool is a geographic information system–enabled, web-delivered data almanac that allows researchers to establish specific filters that can be used to sort crash data, identifying high crash locations and establishing crash trends. Several locations where access management techniques have been implemented in Utah were selected for the safety analysis. Although crash rates were not reduced in every case as a result of the access management techniques, other safety improvements were observed. For example, the access management techniques generally reduced the more serious collision types; this resulted in a decrease in the crash severity. Because the overall severity of crashes decreased, the overall economic cost of crashes was reduced. The cost of installing the access management techniques was more than offset by this reduction in the cost of crashes.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.3141/1994-05
• 
• Summary URL:
  http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Safety+Impacts+of+Access+Management+Techniques+in+Utah&author=G.+Schultz&author=J.+Lewis&author=T.+Boschert&publication_year=2007
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://www.trb.org/Main/Public/Blurbs/159393.aspx
• Authors:
  • Schultz, Grant G
  • Lewis, Jeff S
  • Boschert, Tim
• Publication Date: 2007

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 35-42
• Monograph Title: Crosscutting Techniques for Planning and Analysis 2007
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
  • Issue Number: 1994
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access control (Transportation); Cost effectiveness; Crash rates; Crash severity; Driveways; High risk locations; Highway capacity; Highway operations; Highway traffic control; Impact studies; Traffic congestion; Traffic crashes; Traffic flow; Traffic safety; Traffic volume
• Uncontrolled Terms: Raised medians
• Geographic Terms: Utah
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I73: Traffic Control; I82: Accidents and Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01046186
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 9780309104203
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Feb 8 2007 5:22PM