Prepared by:

Erik D. Nickel, E.I.T.,

Alireza Hadayeghi, M.A.Sc, Ph.D. (Candidate) Manager, Transportation Safety Systems Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc.

Brian Malone, P.Eng., PTOE, President Synectics Transportation Consultants

Abstract

Transportation agencies are perpetually faced with the task of upgrading roadways throughout their jurisdiction; as infrastructure ages, and traffic volumes increase, the road authority is obligated to improve substandard road services. However, improvements to each and every roadway are not feasible, due to limited budgets and time. Also, in order to achieve a safe, efficient and economical highway design, a variety of design alternatives should be considered. Therefore, there is a need for tools for estimating the operational and safety benefits of different alternatives designs. The objective of this study was to quantify the safety benefits of various reconstruction alternatives in the preliminary design stage with the use of Collision Prediction Models, Empirical Bayes (EB) and Crash Modification Factors (CMF) in order to allow the transportation agencies to subsequently assess costs and benefits for a wide range of reconstruction configurations.

For a complete copy of this paper, please contact: jsuggett@synectics-inc.net