HIGH RISK RURAL ROADS (HRRR)

Transcription

1 APPENDIX #1 HIGH RISK RURAL ROADS (HRRR)

2 6. High Risk Rural Roads The Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority (PRHTA) evaluated the need to identify high risk rural roads within the State highway system; this as part of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). This appendix come up from the High Risk Rural Roads Special Rule (23 U.S.C. 148(g)). The rule establishes the definition of high risk rural roads, provides different examples on how to establish the methodology to determine significant safety risks in each jurisdiction, and presents the HRRR reporting requirements. Before this appendix and as part of the implementation of the Puerto Rico Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), the PRHTA developed a methodology to determine high crash locations. However, the methodology did not considerate urban-rural roads classifications because the crash data available did not include this roadway element. The PRHTA evaluated different options, included or based on the HRRR Special Rule (Dec. 2016), to determine the rural road segments with significant safety risks by roadway functional classification. A summary of the alternatives evaluated and the comments regarding considering each one for Puerto Rico is included below. Examples of Significant Safety Risks Definition 1. Roadways with a fatality rate or crash rate (considering fatal and injury crashes) that is higher than roadways of similar functional classifications in that State. (SAFETEA-LU definition). 2. Use roadways with a crash frequency above a designated threshold, which eliminates the comparison calculation to other roadways. 3. Define high risk rural roadway characteristics that are correlated with specific severe crash types, such as crosssection width, lack of shoulders, substandard alignment, hazardous roadside, etc. Comments when considering this definition for Puerto Rico Traffic data is required to determine a fatality or crash rate. Currently, this data is very limited for most of the roadway segments in Puerto Rico. The High Crash Location Report - HCLR (2014 and 2016) - included a frequency index as one criteria to determine high crash locations. To apply this criterion the crash data shall include the urban-rural roadway classification. However, the Puerto Rico crash data does not include this classification. To associate roadway data elements to the safety high risk concept is important to integrate the ROADWAY and the CRASH systems. In Puerto Rico, these traffic records systems are not advanced enough to consider this definition. Page 1

3 Examples of Significant Safety Risks Definition 4. Use information gathered through means such as field reviews, safety assessments, road safety audits, and local knowledge and experience. Using information from observations in the field can identify high risk locations that may not be identified through data analysis or by identifying roadway characteristics. 5. Definition evaluated by Puerto Rico SHSP s Committees: To use the methodology of the HCLR and correlates the list of corridors with the rural areas and the federal roadway functional classifications (rural major, rural minor collector, and rural local roads) in Puerto Rico. Comments when considering this definition for Puerto Rico Historically, the PRHTA had received communications from the public about safety risk in rural roads. Since the development of the first HCLR in 2014, most of these roadway segments were identified using the HCLR methodology. In addition, PRHTA has performed several Road Safety Audits (RSA) and an interchange/ramps assessment to identify significant safety risks in high crash locations. Still some roadway segments are identified through notifications from the public or news media. Using the list of roadway corridors identified using the HCLR methodology is feasible and reliable for the safety stakeholders in Puerto Rico. Adding specific elements such as the Census urban-rural classification and the HPMS federal roadway functional classification to identify which high crash locations are located within the rural areas seems feasible too. Rural Roads Definition FHWA definition of rural roads include rural major, rural minor collector, and rural local roads, based on the Census urban-rural classification. The PRHTA uses the latest Census data to determine the urban and rural areas along the Island. Thus, the highway segments located within the Census rural areas are considered rural roads. In addition, the Puerto Rico HPMS database has a federal roadway functional classification layer that could be useful to determine the federal roadway functional classification of the rural segments identified. PRHTA Methodology for HRRR According to the 23 USC 148, a high risk rural road is defined as follows: roadway functionally classified as a rural major or minor collector or a rural local road with significant safety risks, as defined by a State in accordance with an updated State Strategic Highway Safety Plan. High Crash Location Reports were developed in 2014 and 2016 as part of the Puerto Rico Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). These reports served as important planning tools among different safety stakeholders in Puerto Rico (i.e. Police, EMS, PRTSC, etc.). The methodology to identify high crash locations within Puerto Rico s roadway network was based in the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) 2010 and the local data available (crash, traffic, injury, etc.) for calculating factors associated to the crash severity and crash rate called Crash Cost Factor and Frequency Index (see Figure 1). The methodology includes Page 2

4 the database, crash factors (Crash Cost Factor and Frequency Index), and others used to create the lists of roads segments (spots and corridors) and intersections with high incidence of crashes in Puerto Rico. This document is intended to define the rural roadway segments with significant safety risks in Puerto Rico. Since, the HCL Report methodology already defines the road segments or corridors in significant safety risks, the next step is to define which rural roadways are classified as high crash incidence locations within the list of primary, secondary, and tertiary roads. However, the methodology includes the identification of rural major, rural minor collector or rural local roadway segments based on the Puerto Rico HPMS layer with the federal roadway functional classification of the state roadway network. Summarizing, the Puerto Rico SHSP defines rural roads with significant safety risk as: rural major, rural minor collector, or rural local roadway segments - spots (500 mts) or corridors ( 3km) - included in rural areas, as per the latest Census data, and classified within the high crash locations using the criteria and methodology established by the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority (PRHTA) for determining high crash locations within primary, secondary, and tertiary local roadway functional classifications. Step 1. Data Sources The data sources for determining the high risk rural roads (HRRR) include the Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works (PRDTPW) crash database, the Census Geographic Information System (GIS) layers of the urban-rural areas, and the Puerto Rico HPMS GIS layers of the federal functional classification for the State roadway network. The PRDTPW crash database does not include the urbanrural roadway classification as one of the roadway elements of the crash. Thus, in order to identify which roadway segments or corridors are classified as rural major, rural minor collector, or rural local it is important to obtain the Census and the HPMS data. Combining these sources of information reflects the need to integrate the CRASH system and the ROADWAY system in Puerto Rico. The PRDTPW crash database is fundamental to establish the high crash locations; in this case, the list of rural segments (spots and corridors) in significant safety risk. This database is accessed and managed using the Critical Analysis Reporting Environment (CARE) tool. Since year 2014 the PRDTPW crash database includes property damage only (PDO) crashes. Before year 2014 the database only included fatal (F) and injury (I) crashes. The first step for determining the high crash locations is to define the period, in years, for the crash analysis. This period typically ranges between three (3) to five (5) years. The other two (2) data sources help to determine the federal roadway functional classification as established in the rule: rural major, rural minor collector, and rural local roads. The Census together with the HPMS data will help to define the federal roadway functional classification of the roadway segments identified as high crash locations. In addition, the Puerto Rico HPMS GIS layer containing the federal roadway functional classification will help to classify the significant safety risk rural segments by rural major, rural minor collector, or rural local roads. Page 3

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6 Figure 1: Methodology to identify High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) Step 2. Identify high crash locations Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary roads The PRHTA identifies the high crash locations within Puerto Rico s statewide roadway network by computing the Crash Cost Factor (CCF) and the Frequency Index (FI). To obtain the CCF for each highway segment is important to know the number of fatal, injury and PDO crashes along the segment. This using the crash costs presented in the HSM For each local roadway functional classification, the PRHTA established CCF and FI combined criteria to determine the list of locations (spots, intersections, and corridors) to be considered high crash locations. In 2016, the criteria used to determine these locations per the roadway functional classification was: Primary roads o Hot-corridors were selected based on a CCF $4M/Km and a FI 1/Km o Hot-spots were selected based on a CCF $8M and a FI 5 o Intersections were selected based on a CCF $8M and a FI 7 Secondary roads o Hot-corridors were selected based on a CCF $4M/Km and a FI 1/Km o Hot-spots were selected based on a CCF $8M and a FI 1 o Intersections were selected based on a CCF $4M and a FI 10 Tertiary roads o Hot-corridors were selected based on a CCF $4M/Km and a FI 1.5/Km o Hot-spots were selected based on a CCF $8M and a FI 5 o Intersections were selected based on a CCF $4M and a FI 5 Step 3. Contiguous Homogeneous Segments The methodology of the HCLR also include the combination of contiguous roadway segments. This based on the CCF difference among contiguous segments. Currently, the criteria to determine homogeneous contiguous segments is the CCF difference (ΔCCF) less or equal to $1 Million. Step 4. List of significant safety risk locations The list of high crash locations is generated after combining the contiguous homogeneous segments and determining their average CCF and average FI. This list is ranked according to the equal contribution of the CCF/km and the FI/km. Step 5. Map Generating a map of the segments identified in Step 4 is fundamental to determine the HRRR. This because the best alternative found to match the crash data with the roadway data is using the PRHTA GIS roadway map. The crash locations in the PRDTPW crash database reference to roads kilometers and hectometers. However, these locations can be manually located into the PRHTA map because it refers to road kilometers and hectometers as well as to geospatial coordinates. In the other hand, the Census and HPMS data referenced to geospatial coordinates. Thus, the three data sources can be viewed in the same GIS map. This process requires to identify the crashes in the PRHTA roadway map manually. Page 5

7 Step 6: Rural Classification Rural roads are classified based on the Census urban-rural classification data. This step is essential to identify roadway segments within the rural areas in Puerto Rico. Since this data is available through a GIS layer, this information will be integrated in the map of high crash locations to observe the relation between the two (2) sources of information. The high crash locations or roadway segments with significant safety risks located within the rural areas in the map will be identified as HRRR. Step 7: High Risk Rural Roads The list of HRRR will be generated after identifying the roadway segments within rural areas and rural federal roadway functional classifications (rural major, rural minor collector, and rural local roads). PRHTA will report this list according to their federal roadway functional classification as this element becomes available through the Puerto Rico HPMS database (accessed through the GIS layer). Step 8: Design and Identification of Funds The PRHTA will define safety assessments, Road Safety Audits (RSA), safety improvement projects design, or any other engineering evaluation to develop specific projects or actions intended to improve safety along the HRRR identified. This process will require to identify and program PRHTA funds. Page 6