An official website of the United States government
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
An agency has identified 7,500 miles of rural, two-lane highways for retrofit installation of ELRS. The following information was identified for developing a B/C analysis of rumble strip implementation.
Assumptions:
Appendix A contains CMFs available on the CMF Clearinghouse for CLRS, SRS, and their combination in the following tables:
The FHWA maintains a Rumble Strips and Rumble Stripes website, which is accessible at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/safety/rwd/keep-vehicles-road/rumble-strips. The website contains resources on safety; design and construction; accommodating all users; mitigating noise; pavement and maintenance; and policies, guidance, and research.
This section includes case study examples where agencies weighed the decision to install CLRS or SRS when there was potential concern for roadway users other than vehicles, nearby residents, and pavement condition. Examples include cases where rumble strips were installed and later removed after working with local residents as well as an economic analysis of systemic rumble strip installation. These examples show the importance of involving local residents, advocacy groups, and rumble strip committees in policy-making and implementation decision-making.
Agencies that have successfully installed CLRS and SRS on their rural, two-lane and multilane systems generally have formalized processes for systematic installation and for decision-making on corridors that do not meet systematic criteria. It is important to identify corridors that can actually benefit from the treatment and to apply the most effective treatment possible, while considering other roadway users and contexts.
Nearly all State agencies have a systematic policy providing standard drawings for CLRS and SRS on rural, two-lane, undivided highways or multilane, divided highways. Few agencies use different rumble strip designs for the outside shoulder for the two facility types. Most agencies that distinguish between the two facility types provide drawings specifying rumble strips on the inside and outside shoulders on multilane divided highways. Nearly all agencies supplement the systematic approach with a high crash corridor approach for roadways that do not meet systematic policy.
While rumble strips help reduce ROR crashes and are a proven low-cost safety countermeasure, they can negatively impact bicyclist activity, generate disturbing noise, and may impact pavement quality or future maintenance activity.
SRS and CLRS on rural, two-lane highways are proven safety countermeasures. National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 641: Guidance for the Design and Application of Shoulder and Centerline Rumble Strips documented significant crash reductions for SRS and CLRS on rural, two-lane highways.
Center line and shoulder rumble strips are proven safety countermeasures for reducing roadway departure crashes, including head-on crashes and run-off-road (ROR) crashes.