Safety
Safety is a top priority with everyone involved in the road- and bridge-building market. The Safety Channel is a reflection of the commitment to reduce injuries and fatalities at the jobsite. Enhancing this section is Roads & Bridges' continued partnership with the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA). ATSSA has represented companies and individuals in the traffic control and roadway safety industry for 35 years. Over 1,800 members provide the majority of safety features, services and materials used on the nation's roadways.
Hurricane Michael has moved through the state of Georgia, leaving damage to homes and businesses, downed trees and power lines, blocked roads and traffic signal outages across the state.
In accordance with Gov. Nathan Deal’s seven-day state of emergency declaration, which was expanded Wednesday...
There are approximately 212,000 at-grade railroad crossings in the U.S., usually consisting of one or more railroad tracks crossing a public highway. In some cases, and increasingly commonly, there is an additional presence of a multi-use path or trail, which adds a new level of complexity to...
In 2017, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) opened its first Flex Route along U.S. 23 in Washtenaw and Livingston counties. For years, the problems of peak-hour directional traffic, incident management, and corridor operations and safety eluded the department. All short-term solutions...
Intersections offer a challenge to traffic safety professionals across the country because a third of all fatal crashes occur at intersections. This is primarily caused by right-angle crashes that result from a driver failing to recognize the hazard of oncoming traffic or misjudging the distance or...
According to a new survey by the National Safety Council (NSC), 97% of trucking, rail, air and other transportation-related company employers are worried about employee fatigue.
The NSC report, Fatigue in Safety-Critical Industries: Impact, Risks and Recommendations, summarizes the results of two...
Photo © JThomas (cc-by-sa/2.0)
One aspect of rural driving that perhaps of oft-ignored, or at best misunderstood, is the degree to which regular traffic must accommodate not just heavy truck and freight traffic, but farm vehicles as well. This fact is not lost, however, on the Maryland DOT, which has joined the Maryland...
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) recently announced that according to department data, crashes, injuries and fatalities decreased at 11 roundabouts in the state after they were installed.
PennDOT recently reviewed data for 11 roundabouts on state routes at intersections...
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Friday cited multiple contractors for safety violations after one employee suffered fatal injuries and five other employees sustained serious injuries when a pedestrian bridge at the Florida International...
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) this week announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for at least $46 million for positive train control (PTC) systems grants.
This NOFO represents the balance of the $250 million PTC Consolidated Rail...
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently announced $8.4 million in Accelerated Innovation Deployment (AID) Demonstration awards to the state transportation agencies in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Utah.
Projects will soon be under...
States of emergency have been declared in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia in preparation for Hurricane Florence's arrival, a Category 4 hurricane expected to hit the Atlantic Coast later this week, including evacuation plans and transit cancellations for some.
An evacuation of South...
Gov. Scott Walker announced yesterday that 29 agencies across the state of Wisconsin will receive $15.7 million in funding for Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) projects.
TAP projects are federally funded, smaller scale transportation projects which have a utilitarian purpose which expand...
In Lake County, Ohio, winter weather spells trouble for a stretch of I-90 between S.R. 528 and S.R. 44.
Over a 10-year span, more than 800 winter crashes were recorded along this corridor. On Dec. 8, 2016, an intense snow band that produced massive squalls contributed to a bus crash that led to a...
As part of the Toward Zero Deaths plan for the northern part of the state, the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will begin placing hundreds of roadside reflectors this week along 76 miles of the iconic M-22 route.
The $300,000 project includes more than 1,300 reflectors—called road...
Figure 1. TMA light configurations investigated in the study.
As state departments of transportation (DOTs) shift their attention towards maintenance of existing infrastructure, improving safety in both stationary and mobile work zones is becoming more of a consideration.
One countermeasure to help improve safety in mobile work zones is the truck-mounted...
This week, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) will test out a new technology placed inside the pavement along Brighton Boulevard in Denver to measure the speed of cars traveling over that stretch of road.
This is an example of the agency’s RoadX program, a combination of new methods...
More public transit usage can significantly lessen cities' traffic death rates, according to a recent American Public Transportation Association (APTA) analysis.
Conducted by APTA and advocacy group Vision Zero Network, the analysis showed that metro areas that log more than 40 annual transit...
RoadQuake TPRS deployed in work zones reduce crashes and save lives
On February 8, 2017, KTVN TV reported a fatal work-zone crash:
“…a 2006 black Freightliner semi was traveling southbound where it was approaching traffic being halted by a flagger in a construction zone. [Nevada Highway Patrol] says a 2000 red Ford F-150, 2015 white Toyota 4Runner, and 2007 beige...
The U.S is on pace to record close to 40,000 roadway and highway deaths for the third consecutive year, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the National Safety Council (NSC).
Based on state-reported statistics, the NSC says approximately 18,720 people died on U.S. roadways...
Image: Gregory Highway Products
Drivers in the state of Oklahoma could soon be seeing fewer guardrails on the side of the highway, as the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) said it is planning to install more cable barriers.
The department said it plans on installing 10 miles of cable barriers, some of which is...
