Along the Road
Along the Road
Public Information and Information Exchange
Youngsters Wowed at TFHRC’s 2024 TYCWD
In April 2024, in concert with National Take Your Child to Work Day (TYCWD), the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) hosted its annual event.
TYCWD at TFHRC familiarizes kids with the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) work their parents perform to enhance infrastructure design, driver and pedestrian safety, and other key areas of highway transportation. TFHRC Administrator Dr. Kelly Regal and chief scientist Craig Thor initiated the day’s festivities by delivering an introduction about what was in store.
The children then took part in a slew of activities prepared by the staff of TFHRC’s 15 cutting-edge laboratories. Activities included the making and breaking of asphalt made of chocolate (to simulate the mixing and strength testing of asphalt cores); performing flame tests (to simulate research performed in the Chemistry Laboratory); and testing out the stream table inside the J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Research Laboratory, a laboratory that tests the hydraulic performance of highway drainage structures and stream crossings (e.g., storm sewers).
“It’s really fun. The activities are good, and the people that run the activities are amazing,” said Ashley Shine, one of this year’s children in attendance at the event.
The year’s most popular activity was watching the Federal Outdoor Impact Laboratory crash test, a favorite among the children and their parents each year.
Effective Wrong-Way Driving Alert System Deployed by UDOT
Car crashes at typical highway speed limits are dangerous. Wrong-way vehicle crashes, which are usually head-on collisions occurring at highway speeds, pose even more danger on roadways. In 2022, eight wrong-way crashes caused 10 fatalities in Utah; a year later, wrong-way crashes more than doubled, resulting in six fatalities.
In February 2023, to help prevent similar incidents and additional deaths, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) installed 15 new wrong-way driving detection systems around the State; eight more installations are slated throughout 2024.
The detection systems use radar, high definition/infrared cameras, and a series of red “Wrong Way” warning signs equipped with solar-powered, high-intensity light-emitting diodes (LEDs). When wrong-way drivers are detected, the warning signs trimmed in LEDs light up to alert drivers that they are driving their vehicle against the direction of traffic.
When a driver does not heed the warning from the signs and continues driving, the advanced detection system signals the UDOT Traffic Operations Center and Utah Highway Patrol to track the vehicle and apply intervention so the driver can be stopped. In the first test of this system, 23 wrong-way drivers avoided colliding with oncoming traffic after detection.
For more information on the wrong-way driving alert system, visit https://www.udot.utah.gov/connect/2023/12/14/udot-aims-to-prevent-wrong-way-driver-crashes-with-new-detection-and-alert-system/.
Grade Separation to Connect Parts of ASU’s Tempe Campus
In May 2024, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) announced it had selected a contractor to realize plans for a pedestrian and bicycle grade separation across University Drive in Tempe, AZ. The new underpass—inspired by Vision Zero—will work to deliberately separate pedestrians and cyclists from vehicles to create safer city travel and eliminate traffic-related injuries and fatalities. The grade separation will also provide a new path to the center of the historic Arizona State University (ASU) Tempe campus from ASU’s sports venues and Downtown Tempe—linking Tempe locales and enhancing campus connectivity and safety for students entering and exiting the campus. The path will also include access to the Tempe Transportation Center, a 40,000-square-foot (3,716-square-meter) facility that houses a retail store, transit store, bike repair shop, the city of Tempe Transportation Office, and traffic management center.
ADOT will provide engineering and oversight services. Grants through the Federal Highway Administration and an intergovernmental agreement signed by Tempe Mayor Corey Woods and ADOT made the project possible. Construction of the grade separation—to include public art, desert landscaping, and Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible ramps and provide a more efficient way of moving for all modes of travel—is anticipated to begin in late 2025.
For the latest ADOT news, visit https://azdot.gov/adot-news.
Internet Watch
Caltrans Launches New Clean California Project Map
In May 2024, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) launched an interactive map that identifies the locations of hundreds of beautification projects funded by Clean California—a $1.2 billion, multiyear effort led by Caltrans to clean up, reclaim, transform, and beautify public spaces statewide. Nearly all the Clean California projects improve underserved communities by making them safer, cleaner, and healthier places to live.
Clean California funds infrastructure projects in three categories: Local Grant Projects, State Beautification Projects, and Local Transit Partnership Projects. Local Grant Projects are led by local governments, Tribes, and transit agencies; State Beautification Projects improve the aesthetic appeal, safety, and environmental quality of public spaces and roadsides on the State highway system, including the installations of new fencing, lighting fixtures, signage, public art, and murals; Local Transit Partnership Projects are led by local transit agencies; and State Beautification Projects are led by Caltrans.
With the new geographic information system mapping tool (https://caltrans.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=7b5a27c1ae5048aeb1e1ba28e1c7e707), users can search for active or completed Clean California projects by county, city, zip code, or address. The projects are color-coded based on the project categories. To date, efforts organized under Clean California have collected over 2.5 million cubic yards (1.9 million cubic meters) of litter, created over 18,000 jobs, including over 8,900 jobs for State Beautification Projects and 1,300 jobs for Local Grant Projects.
For more information about Clean California, visit https://cleanca.com/.
VDOT Places Corridor Improvement Projects on Interactive Display
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is working to widen the roadway, improve safety, reduce congestion, construct noise walls, improve stormwater management, replace bridges, and encourage multimodal travel along three miles of Richmond Highway in Fairfax County.
More specifically, this project will include expanding the four-lane roadway to six lanes, adding or extending turn lanes, incorporating crosswalks at all signalized intersections within the project, constructing sidewalks and separate two-way cycle tracks on both sides of the road, reserving space in the proposed median for center-running bus-rapid transit lanes, and more. All pedestrian accommodations will be Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, and signals throughout the corridor will be optimized or automatically adjusted to reflect the best possible timing settings to manage traffic.
The interactive mapping tool (https://vdot.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=78a81cd286524f79b2ffab1949c97ea9) is an easy way for users to view which improvements are projected along their route. While construction is slated to begin in 2027, several major milestones have already been met. For example, Phase 1 Right of Way Partial Acquisitions began in May 2024. Phase 2 Right of Way Partial Acquisitions is scheduled to begin in late 2024.
For more information on the Richmond Highway Corridor Improvements, visit https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/projects/northern-virginia-district/richmond-highway-corridor-improvements-in-fairfax-county/.
Technical News
Iowa Uses New Technology to Assist Safe Driving in Wintry Weather
In winter 2023, Iowa’s Pottawattamie County Secondary Roads Service announced the use of new technology that assists travelers with exercising caution when inclement weather occurs across the State. With GPS devices installed inside road graders and plow units, the technology allows department administrators to track the current location of each unit in operation throughout the county.
The information captured by the GPS devices is relayed via data collected by the Pottawattamie County Geographic Information Systems onto a Snow Event Map (https://apps.vertigisstudio.com/web/?app=ea02838538594748b2b6152fcf0a7edf), which permits travelers to view—on desktops or mobile devices—where assigned county equipment has treated or cleared roads during winter weather events. Map information will continue displaying for 48 hours and show a 6-hour history of winter maintenance vehicles during snow events. While the technology should not be completely relied upon as an exact indicator of road condition, plowed status, or drivability, the map is designed to track where crews have been and act as a valuable tool for Iowa residents and visitors to choose the safest route.
For more information on Secondary Roads, visit https://www.pottcounty-ia.gov/departments/secondary_roads/faq/.
Policy, Regulations, and Grants
PHMSA Updates Hazardous Material Transportation Regulations
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) announced the release of a new final rule to improve environmental safety, update policies surrounding the transport of essential products (e.g., medical supplies, batteries, and components used in manufacturing), and promote best practices in packaging goods for more efficient shipping.
The final rule (https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/10/2024-06956/hazardous-materials-harmonization-with-international-standards) aligns Federal regulations with international standards that PHMSA helped develop. Amendments made by the final rule were necessary for several reasons, including the handling of hazardous materials in domestic and global commerce. For example, PHMSA is removing some exceptions provided for small lithium cells and batteries for transportation by aircraft. This change is consistent with eliminating similar provisions in the International Civil Aviation Organization Technical Instructions.
PHMSA’s mission is to protect people and the environment by advancing the safe transportation of energy and other hazardous materials that are essential in daily life. In like manner, the final rule will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and supply chain disruptions, and lessen the economic disadvantages faced by American companies that are forced to forgo exporting due to conflicting rules and regulations.
For more information on the safe transportation of energy and hazardous materials, visit https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/.
Interesting Facts
For more interesting facts, visit the Federal Highway Administration on social media: https://www.facebook.com/FederalHighwayAdmin, https://twitter.com/USDOTFHWA, https://www.linkedin.com/company/federal-highway-administration/posts/?feedView=all, and https://www.instagram.com/federalhighwayadmin/.