Excellence in Transportation Award:
Transportation Planning
Winner: Corridor Safety Analysis and Project Prioritization

Participants:
DKS Associates
ITD District 6
William R. Loudon (DKS Associates)
Robert J. Schulte (DKS Associates)
Matthew Davison (ITD District 6)
William R. Shaw (ITD District 6)

ITD District 6, in partnership with DKS Associates, has undertaken an innovative pilot program for safety analysis and planning on its rural corridors. The pilot program includes the application of a new method for evaluation and prioritization
of safety improvements and has been applied in a corridor-planning context. The method is based on existing and forecasted traffic volumes, roadway and intersection characteristics and traffic control, points of access, and planned safety or capacity improvements in the corridor. The pilot program has been applied to segments of the District 6 state highway system that have been rated“worse than average” for safety by using the District’s “Corridor Health” assessment scoring system.

The pilot program has demonstrated the usefulness of the new method for identifying the highest priority locations for safety improvements and for evaluating the potential safety benefits of candidate projects. The new Highway Safety Manual procedures have provided the basic methodology for estimating, for any future year, the number and severity of crashes for segments, and for intersections on the state highway system in Idaho using traffic forecasts produced in the preparation of corridor plans.

The results of the Highway Safety Manual procedures have supported the District 6 roadway geodatabase, referred to as the “Visualization Tool,” which helps the agency develop and display a rating of “Corridor Health” by segment and supplements the procedures of the Highway Capacity Manual in the analysis process.

Published 5-6-2011