Resources

FHWA has a number of resources on its website related to the development and implementation of LRSPs including:

Countermeasures That Work is a basic reference to assist SHSOs in selecting effective, evidence-based countermeasures for nine traffic safety problem areas.

Developing Safety Plans: A Manual for Local Rural Road Owners, FHWA, provides guidance on the development of LRSPs.

Good Practices: Incorporating Safety into Resurfacing and Restoration Projects, FHWA, provides information on institutional practices that integrate safety into resurfacing and restoration projects.

Highway Safety Grant Programs, provides additional information on behavioral safety funding available from NHTSA.

Highway Safety Improvement Program, FHWA, is a core Federal-aid program to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads.

Highway Safety Manual, is the guidance document for incorporating quantitative safety analysis in the highway transportation project planning and development processes.

Highway Statistics, 2018, FHWA, is an annual report that contains analyzed statistical information on motor fuel, motor vehicle registrations, driver licenses, highway user taxation, highway mileage, travel, and highway finance.

Local Agency Funding Guide for the Off-System Roadway, Florida DOT, District 7, provides targeted information on roadway safety, and a step-by-step process to assess and improve the safety of the local road networks.

Local Roadway Safety A Manual for California’s Local Road Owners, Caltrans, is designed to help maximize the safety benefits for local roadways by encouraging all local agencies to identify and analyze their safety issues and to position themselves to compete effectively in call-for-projects.

Network Screening is the process of studying safety conditions on all of a road network or a subset of the network using the same method at each location so that the results can be compared and prioritized. Other information on network screening is available in the HSIP Manual and a Network Screening Quick Start Guide.

Proven Countermeasures, FHWA, is a list of 20 treatments and strategies that practitioners can implement to successfully address roadway departure, intersection, pedestrian and bicycle crashes.

Rural/Urban Comparison of Traffic Fatalities, Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA, is an annual report that presents descriptive statistics about traffic crashes of all severities in rural and urban areas.

State Highway Safety Offices, is a listing of each state’s Highway Safety Office.

Systemic Approach to Safety involves widely implemented improvements based on high-risk roadway features correlated with specific severe crash types.

Transportation Alternatives Program, FHWA, are set-aside funds for projects related pedestrian and bicycle facilities, recreational trails, safe routes to school projects, community improvements, historic preservation, vegetation management, and environmental mitigation.

Tribal Safety Plans, provides links to Transportation Safety Plans developed by Tribal Governments to share these Transportation Safety Plans.

Research Methodology

Information for this report was gathered from the following sources:

• A review of information from a variety of search engines and web sites including:
  • FHWA Office of Safety website, Local and Rural Road Safety Program:¹⁷
    • Includes general information on HSIP, which provides funding to implement many of the infrastructure projects in the LRSP.
    • Videos and brochures on the important role local elected officials play in improving road safety particularly in approving funding to implement projects in the LRSP, and tips to local agency practitioners about how to talk about road safety with local elected officials.
    • “Assessment of Local Road Safety Funding, Training and Technical Assistance” report which summarizes State DOT practices for delivering funding and resources to local entities for road safety improvement projects.¹⁸
    • Information on how to implement a safety management system (SMS) at the local level. SMS provides tools and information to help decision makers and those who manage and maintain local roadways identify, prioritize, correct, and evaluate the performance of their transportation safety investments.
    • Manuals for Local Rural Road Owners that provide information on implementation approaches, safety analysis, and countermeasures for intersections and roadway departure.
    • Manual on Roadway Safety Information Analysis that includes information and case studies on crash data collection and analysis, and countermeasure selection.
    • Manual on Speed Management including identifying countermeasures (e.g., engineering, enforcement, and education), and implementing countermeasures including preparing for implementation, i.e., support, prioritization, funding, and evaluation.
    • Manual on Non-Motorized User Safety including selecting, implementing, and evaluating countermeasures.
    • Briefing sheets on local and rural road safety including applying the systemic approach on local roads, information on crash modification factors (CMFs) and how they can be used to evaluate the impact of improvements on fatalities and serious injuries, how implementing low-cost ITS applications can improve safety on local and rural roads, the safety needs and treatments of unpaved roads, and how to make local and rural roads safer for pedestrians and bicycles.
    • “Addressing Safety on Locally-Owned and Maintained Roads, A Domestic Scan” includes information from seven States on how they were improving safety on their local roads. The report provides several noteworthy examples.¹⁹
  • FHWA Office of Safety Noteworthy Practices database,²⁰ including:
    • Safety Summit Yields Tenfold Increase in Number of Safety Applications Submitted by Local Agencies, 2013.
    • Highway Safety Improvement Program: Local Roads Safety Policy Peer Exchange, November 2016.
    • Overcoming Limited Data to Identify High Risk Rural Road (HRRR) Projects, 2018.
    • Caltrans Uses Local Road Safety Manual to Improve its Data-driven Approach to Statewide Safety Project Selection, 2013.
    • Ohio DOT’s GCAT (GIS (Geographic Information System) Crash Analysis Tool) Helps Local Roadway Agencies Justify Funding Requests for Road Safety Improvement, 2013.
    • Local Road Safety Data Analysis Approaches Peer Exchange, August 2016.
    • Washington State DOT Implements $26 Million in Local Roadway Safety Improvements through Local Agencies, 2015.
    • Design-Build Push Button Contract Significantly Reduces the Time It Takes to Implement Safety Improvements, Florida, 2013.
    • Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) and LTAP Partnership Improves Local Agencies’ Capabilities to Develop Regional Safety Plans, Access Funding, and Implement Safety Improvements, 2013.
    • Overcoming Limited Data to Identify High Risk Rural Road (HRRR) Projects, 2018.
    • Tennessee DOT Local Roads Safety Initiative Assists Counties Challenged by Limited Staff with Road Safety Improvements, 2013.
  • Results from FHWA sponsored Local Road Safety Plan Implementation Peer Exchange, May 14-15, 2019, Bismarck, ND.
  • Transportation Research Board’s online search engine, TRIS (Transportation Research Information Services).²¹
  • National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) relevant research.²²
  • Google search.
• Input from State and local safety practitioners, including:
  • State Department of Transportation (DOT) Officials.
  • Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) representatives.
  • County Engineers.
  • Regional Coalitions.
  • Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) representatives.

¹⁷ FHWA Office of Safety, Local and Rural Road Safety Program. 

¹⁸ FHWA, Office of Safety, Assessment of Local Road Safety Funding, Training and Technical Assistance. 

¹⁹ FHWA, Office of Safety, Addressing Safety on Locally-Owned and Maintained Roads, A Domestic Scan. 

²⁰ FHWA, Office of Safety, Noteworthy Practices Database. 

²¹ TRB, TRID the TRIS and ITRD database. 

²² TRB, NCHRP.