Publication Information
As traffic volumes grow on urban freeways, highway agencies face an ongoing challenge to maintain efficient traffic operations and acceptable levels of service. Increasing the capacity of a freeway by adding a lane can be difficult and expensive if it involves widening the existing roadbed, regrading roadside areas, and/or acquiring additional right-of-way. A number of highway agencies, however, have implemented projects in which a travel lane is added on an urban freeway by restriping the traveled way with narrower lanes, converting all or part of the shoulder to a travel lane, or a combination of both. The traffic operational benefits of such conversions are immediate and obvious, but the safety effects are uncertain. This study addresses these safety effects.