At each scan visit the team was presented with local agency safety initiatives that demonstrated a level of success from their local safety programs/projects. The success stories provided by each of the local agencies offer examples of interesting and noteworthy approaches or programs that some of the scan States have used to improve safety on local roadways.  Many of the States' stories highlighted programs that achieved significant improvements in analyzing, identifying, and addressing crash issues on local roadways.  This chapter presents only some of these initiatives that advance local agencies' safety awareness and commitment.

Georgia Local Success Story: Douglas County Safety Action Plan

Key Accomplishments

- Focused on SHSP emphasis area: roadway departure crashes.
- Developed coordination efforts to identify crash hotspots.
- Identified and implemented low-cost countermeasures.
- Resulted in the reduction of run-off-road crashes.
 

Douglas County, Georgia created a County Curve Action Plan as part of the Georgia Department of Transportation's Safety Action Plan Program. This plan has been particularly helpful to the county as it supported funding opportunities through the Georgia Off-System Safety Program. 

One of the principal components of their safety action plan, which aligns with the Georgia SHSP, is a focus on roadway departure crashes along curves.  Horizontal curves on local and rural roadways represent a major concern in Douglas County, because many of their roads are former wagon trails that were paved over time without addressing the roadway alignment, shoulders, clear zones, and lighting to meet current standards. Consequently, the County experiences a significant number of run-off-road (ROR) crashes associated with these curves.  

With a lack of comprehensive data, the County depended on their County Road Department staff, historic knowledge from the sheriff department, and residents to supplement the available data to develop the Curve Action Plan.  High-risk locations were identified.  A consultant was hired to conduct a qualitative analysis of critical locations and identify countermeasure strategies where appropriate.  Improvement strategies included signing and striping modifications, as shown in Figure 4, as well as centerline and edgeline raised pavement markers.

Figure 4: Curve Ahead Pavement Markings and Signage
Photograph: Douglas County Road Department

There has been a significant reduction in ROR crashes since the county began implementing low cost strategies such as warning signs, chevron signs and raised pavement markers along the curves as part of their "Curve Safety Plan".  After installing the double advance warning signs, chevrons, and raised pavement markers, a number of crashes continued to occur along some curves.  The County took another step by adding the Pennsylvania DOT "curve ahead" markings on the pavement, including arrows.  The pavement markings have made a tremendous difference as there have been no crashes in the treated locations since the installation.

Minnesota Local Success Story: Township Sign Inventory and Replacement Pilot

Key Accomplishments

- Obtained Federal and State funding for pilot program between MAT and Mn/DOT.
- Upgraded old signage and reduced signage clutter on local roadways.
- Led to Mn/DOT writing a Sign Reduction Manual.
- Intended to improve signage retroreflectivity standards and reduce township signage by 10-15 percent.
 

The Township Sign Inventory and Replacement pilot program was developed by the Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT).  This program was funded by HSIP and State funds and administered by the State Aid for Local Transportation (SALT) division of Mn/DOT in coordination with MAT.  This pilot program began with the townships located within six counties and was broken into two phases, Engineering and Construction. 

The goal is to develop and refine the requirements for sign reduction and removal to assist agencies in complying with new retroreflectivity standards.  MAT has set a 10 to 15 percent reduction goal in total sign count.  The first phase was an engineering assessment focused on the evaluation of existing signs to develop a sign inventory, a set of sign plans, and provisions for each county broken out by township.  Mn/DOT used a consultant to collect data, including an inventory and assessment of sign posts.  The second phase involved the construction or installation of signage improvements, based on the results of the engineering assessment.  Based on the experience of this pilot, Mn/DOT is developing a Sign Reduction Manual to help local agencies comply with MUTCD guidelines.  The manual will also address when it is permissible and appropriate to remove a sign that is no longer of value. 

Funding for the program was acquired when the Township Association of MN formed a partnership with State, county and local industry and consultants interested in transportation safety.  These transportation partners traveled to Washington, D.C. to solicit congressional support for Federal funding for the sign replacement plan and proposed safety-related benefits.  Two years after the Minnesota Association of Townships received a $3 million Federal earmark under SAFETEA-LU, the townships were granted an additional $2.5 million in State contributions to match the Federal funds and continue the sign replacement program.  The State match was seen as a critical step to completing the pilot program given limited local funding.  The program started with six pilot counties and a limit of two years has been established to spend the Federal funds.

This program is helping townships to establish consistent signage on all corridors.  In some cases, individual townships overcame coordination difficulties by taking the initiative and sharing responsibilities with other local agencies based on areas of expertise.  No formal evaluation of the project has been completed yet, but there is potential to conduct research on driver behavior impacts in the future.  MAT has selected townships in two counties for the next round of this project. SALT has begun the initial inventory and plan development phase. 

Washington Local Success Story: Pierce County Safety Program

Key Accomplishments

- Instituted a systematic and data-driven county safety program conforming to WSDOT guidelines.
- Emphasized internal standards and documentation to support HSIP applications.
- Acquired HSIP funds for countermeasures to address roadside and intersection crashes on county roadways, which aligns with the SHSP.
 

With guidance from the Washington DOT, Pierce County has adopted a systematic approach for the local safety improvement program. The program includes a prioritization process that is data-driven and focuses on the most severe crash types and hotspot locations, as sanctioned both by WSDOT and other local agencies.

Pierce County has found that systematic field inventories and assessments of existing infrastructure have improved opportunities to identify safety issues on county roadways.  The county conducts the following efforts to proactively identify potential projects:

• Inventories for all pavement markings and scattered inventories of traffic signal equipment and operational attributes. 
• Dedication to preventative maintenance, including frequent sign inspections and traffic signal maintenance (e.g., checking traffic signals every other month). 
• An aggressive daytime traffic sign inspection program has been augmented with a new nighttime program. 

Pierce County standardized its evaluation procedures and emphasizes documentation to support the HSIP applications, improve the potential for Federal funding, and guide eventual project implementation.  To maintain consistency, the County developed a standard format for traffic studies and based their traffic safety device policies on MUTCD guidance, which has reduced potential political conflicts.  Pierce County requires road crews to thoroughly document field assessments, maintenance projects, and roadway modifications. 

Through the recently adopted approach, Pierce County developed county safety projects for roadside tree removal and installing the roadway safety edge. The systematic approach used to obtain funding for their current HSIP projects has resulted in funding to remove approximately 300 roadside trees, which were selected during the project development based on existing or potential safety concerns.  Prior to this project, Pierce County completed other systemic safety upgrades on county roadways including guardrail upgrades and flashing beacon warnings at intersections.  All of these projects address high-priority SHSP emphasis areas.

New Jersey Local Success Story: NJTPA Regional Safety Priorities Program

Key Accomplishments

- Addressed regional and local safety issues through Safety Priority Program.
- Identified regional safety needs and developed initiatives to address issues.
- Used crash data to identify hotspot issues, conduct RSAs, and develop countermeasures at 25 critical locations.
- Relied on recommendations to apply for safety funding through the NJTPA Local Safety Program.
 

The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA) has implemented a Regional Safety Priorities Program that takes a data-driven systematic approach to identifying projects. Their success can be seen in the number of projects that they have successfully initiated and completed and the total amount of funding they have received and utilized.

NJTPA is committed to incorporating safety conscious planning principles in their planning processes.  In 2005, the NJTPA undertook a collaborative effort with local agencies in the region to develop safety priorities for their Regional Transportation Plan.  A consultant was employed to help identify the most pressing safety needs in the region.   The multi-modal Regional Safety Priorities study developed a comprehensive set of new safety initiatives which included engineering, enforcement, and educational countermeasures.  The Regional Safety Priorities Update, completed in 2008, built upon the results of this study.  Both studies were forward-looking, multi-modal efforts to integrate safety considerations into all phases of transportation improvement planning and development, and to elevate safety to a high priority at all levels of decision-making.

In addition to the safety initiatives, the studies identified about 25 priority locations in the region with a history of crashes or safety issues related to vehicles, pedestrians, transit, bicycles, trucks, and elderly users.  In order to maximize the potential benefits, NJTPA used regional crash data to identify critical locations, such as those demonstrating left-turn, pedestrian, and cross-over crashes.  Crash data was geo-coded and high-crash locations were identified.  NJTPA conducted RSAs, bringing together engineers, law enforcement personnel, planners, elected officials and stakeholders at each location to identify critical safety issues and suggest improvements. 

NJTPA concentrated on short-term and relatively low-cost improvements such as signing, improvements to existing signals, and pavement markings for pedestrians, that could be implemented by local agencies and funded through the NJTPA Local Safety Program, and to the extent possible, the HRRRP.  Over 75 percent of locations and needs identified in the first study have been addressed through engineering, enforcement and educational strategies, and many through the Local Safety Program.