Case Study Tag: Design

Enhancing Nighttime Visibility for Safety

FHWA
The nighttime fatality rate on the nation's roadways is three times higher than the daytime rate, and 76% of pedestrian fatalities occur at night. FHWA offers tools including safety countermeasures, updated and new approaches for lighting design and traffic control devices.

Safety in Project Development

Texas
TxDOT is incorporating safety into project development through various policies, programs, strategies, methods, and guidelines. For example, the TSAP manual and Safer By Design tools are newer resources to help TxDOT employees incorporate safety into all they do.

Connection SATX Downtown Feasibility Study: Historical Safety Analysis

Texas
A historical safety analysis from the Connection SATX Downtown Feasibility Study helped develop short-term improvements for the study area by analyzing vehicular and vulnerable road user crashes to identify specific safety concerns. The safety analysis provided great insights on vehicular, pedestrian, and cyclist crash patterns in the study area.

MASH Test Level 3 Compliant Guardrail System on 1H to 1V Slope

Texas
Under some conditions, achieving the recommended 2-ft offset from guardrail posts to the slope break is challenging. Texas A&M Transportation Institute found a thrie-beam option would work in these conditions and pass MASH TL-3 tests.

Get Involved with Transportation Research Board (TRB)

NCHRP
NCHRP and BTSCRP develop resources for DOTs, transportation professionals, and other agencies. Resources include research related to the AASHTO Highway Safety Manual and AASHTO Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware, safety guides for practitioners, and behavioral research. Transportation professionals may contribute problem statements, conduct research, contribute to TRB Standing Committees, and volunteer for project panels.

Data for Proactive Road Safety: Continuous Pavement Friction Measurement

Kentucky
Pavement Friction Management (PFM) using Continuous Pavement Friction Measurement (CPFM) is a proactive approach for managing pavements for safety throughout the roadway lifecycle. Taking a lifecycle approach to designing, specifying, and maintaining friction performance saved Kentucky more than $1 billion annually and reduced fatal and severe crashes by up to 24%.

Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity

FHWA
The Final Rule on maintaining pavement marking retroreflectivity goes into effect September 6, 2026. Agencies can use recommended methodologies to better prioritize budgets, maximize the life of pavement markings, and improve roadway safety.

Making Safety Everyone’s Business: Integrate Safety into All Programs and Projects

FHWA
FHWA has several resources and examples of integrating safety into all transportation projects, throughout the project lifecycle, from planning through operations and maintenance. They also have resources for organizational safety culture and programmatic safety integration.

DelDOT’s Road Design Manual

Delaware
The DelDOT Road Design Manual includes key changes in road design practices with several new and updated policies and guidelines geared toward creating a safer, more multi-modal roadway network.

WISDOT’s Approach to Reducing Intersection Crashes

Wisconsin
Intersection safety improvements and data enhancements prioritized effective safety countermeasures, leading to improvements at 175 intersections.