Describe the roadway safety situation or state before the new practice was implemented. What was the safety issue, problem, or gap?

Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds in Washington State are divided between State highways and local agency roadways. The funds are split according to the top priority infrastructure emphasis areas from the State Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP): Target Zero. The top priority, or priority 1, emphasis areas are run-off-road crashes and intersection-related crashes. The split between State and local share of those crashes has remained very consistent at roughly 30 percent on State maintained roadways and 70 percent local agency responsibility. Therefore, 70 percent of HSIP funds are provided to local agencies through programs administered by the Local Programs division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

From 2010 to 2014, county roads accounted for 25 percent (2,801 of 11,259) of all fatal and serious injury crashes in Washington State. However, those crashes are spread out over more than 39,000 miles of road. Very few locations have more than one fatal or serious injury crash over a five-year period. This seemingly random pattern makes implementation of safety countermeasures more challenging.

Since 2009, counties applying for HSIP funds have been required to implement low-cost improvements over widespread areas of their network. Projects have been awarded to all 39 counties statewide in that time period. Counties are allowed to identify which countermeasures they implement and where they are implemented, as long as they address fatal and serious injury crash types (primarily run-off-the-road) using proven countermeasures. Counties are responsible for identifying priority locations using this risk-based approach to safety.

What were the key challenges that needed to be addressed before the new practice could be implemented?

Counties had to be provided with the resources to develop local road safety plans to identify locations and priorities for road safety projects. The resources included statistical summaries, development of workshops, and coordination of training through the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) Data and Analysis Technical Assistance program.

Describe the new practice.

Counties are required to develop a local road safety plan to identify locations and priorities. The development of such a plan is required in order for a county to be eligible to apply for HSIP funds. WSDOT assisted the counties with the development of local road safety plans in the following manner:

• Counties were provided with summary data to help them prioritize crash types, roadway characteristics, and conditions more prevalent in fatal and serious injury crashes.
• A series of eight workshops were held around the state for counties to better understand the requirements of the local road safety plan. These workshops helped to emphasize no new data are needed to be collected to develop a local road safety plan.
• During the workshops, counties were provided with additional resources, such as the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool and the SHSP recommended countermeasures.
• After the workshops, training specific to the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool was made available to counties (and a few interested cities).
• Technical assistance was provided as needed for any county requesting assistance in development or review of their local road safety plans and HSIP applications.
• For the final application for HSIP funds, counties were required to develop a list of prioritized projects, each with a separate cost estimate.
• If counties could advertise new safety projects by September 30, 2016, the state would provide the 10 percent match typically required from the local agency, allowing the counties to receive 100 percent funding for construction.

List the key accomplishments that resulted from the new practice. Include the roadway safety improvements.

• The majority of counties completed a local road safety plan and applied for funds within a five-month window from the announcement of the program to the application deadline.
• Of those that applied, 30 counties received funding for a total of $26.5 million in improvements.
• Nearly every project, in every county, committed to meeting that deadline in order to receive 100 percent construction funding support.

What technical and/or institutional changes resulted from the new practice?

The development of local road safety plans has a high potential to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes on the county road network. This approach is data-driven, creates a process to determine risks across the network, and provides the flexibility to select the most cost-effective projects. This approach is also changing the safety culture among counties across the state by making them evaluate their roads in a different way than before.

What benefits were realized as a result of the practice?

• Two key partnership opportunities also emerged from this process including the Washington State Association of Counties (the state's NACE-affiliate) and the County Road Administration (CRAB).
• CRAB received a Traffic Records Committee grant to develop a safety module that works with their existing database. This will allow counties to combine crash, roadway, and volume data to develop a systemic safety program. The module will help to implement the Systemic Safety Project Selection Tool analysis process.

Bridge guard rail installation as a result of a local road safety plan

Signage updates as a result of a local road safety plan

Contacts

Matthew Enders, PE
Manager, Technical Services
(360) 705-6907
EndersM@wsdot.wa.gov

Susan Bowe, PE
Traffic Services Manager
(360) 705-7380
BoweS@wsdot.wa.gov