Peterborough County Pilot
Table of Contents 1.0 Purpose... 3 2.0 Road Safety Audit Objectives... 3 3.0 Legal Issues... 3 4.0 Road Safety Audit Procedures... 4 4.1 Project Selection Criteria... 5 4.2 Scope... 5 4.3 Value Engineering... 7 4.4 Road Safety Audit Report... 7 4.5 Roles and Responsibilities... 7 4.5.1 Project Owner... 7 4.5.2 Road Safety Audit Team... 8 4.5.3 Design Team... 8 4.5.4 Stakeholder Group... 8 5.0 Reporting... 8 Appendix A - Road Safety Audit Template... 9 Appendix B - The RSA Team Checklist... 12 Appendix C Stakeholder Feedback Sheet... 15 2 P a g e
1.0 Purpose The purpose of this guideline is to: describe the subject of road safety audit (RSA) introduce a set of formal procedures for carrying out road safety audits in the County of Peterborough that is consistent with Canadian standards to become part of the standard operating procedures upon adoption by County Council RSAs are required to be carried out generally in accordance with the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) publication, The Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide. The Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide is intended to be the guiding national document for the application of road safety audits in Canada. These Guidelines supplement the road safety audit process and procedures described in The Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide and will be updated as practice develops. 2.0 Road Safety Audit Objectives A RSA is a process for systematically assessing the safety of roads (including intersections) based on sound road safety engineering principles and undertaken from the road users perspectives. A road safety audit is an input that provides an independent assessment of the safety performance, carried by road safety specialists. A road safety audit is defined in the TAC Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide as follows: A road safety audit is a formal and independent safety performance review of a road transportation project by an experienced team of safety specialists, addressing the safety for all road users. A RSA is not a check for compliance with design guidelines or domains. The objectives of a road safety audit are to: minimize the frequency and severity of preventable collisions; consider the safety of all road users, including vulnerable road users; ensure that collision mitigation measures that may eliminate or reduce potential safety problems are considered fully; provide a transparent and traceable process 3.0 Legal Issues It is important that a clear procedure for managing and organizing road safety audit is established, and that the practice of undertaking and reporting road safety audit is clearly specified, and that the actions are fully and consistently documented. 3 P a g e
As noted in the TAC Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide, there may be the concern related to increased liability to the County should a Road Safety Audit identify a road safety issue that potentially does not get addressed. The completion of a Road Safety Audit may be viewed as a proactive and reasonable approach by the County to work with parties with an interest in identifying road safety issues and to prioritize and implement possible improvements through available approvals procedures. The Ministry of Transportation Ontario sought out its own legal advice concerning liability with respect to RSAs, and received the following recommendations: maintain and document a formal set of road safety audit procedures; ensure that each road safety audit has a clear terms of reference; ensure that staff and consultants in charge of the project are aware of their responsibilities in a road safety audit. In undertaking road safety audits, road safety auditors should: document what information has been received by the road safety audit team and subsequently used as information to assist with the road safety audit; ensure that safety issues raised at earlier stages, which have not been addressed, are re-examined where appropriate; ensure that road safety audit team members are aware of their responsibilities in undertaking a road safety audit; maintain a record of the full documentation for each road safety audit undertaken. 4.0 Road Safety Audit Procedures This section is set out to provide a clear series of RSA procedures for the County. The road safety audit procedures contain information on: Project Selection Criteria Scope Value engineering and analysis Road Safety Audit Report Roles and Responsibilities Reporting 4 P a g e
4.1 Project Selection Criteria The County will complete RSA for in-service roads. At this time, the County does not intend to conduct RSA during the planning/design phase of a transportation project. The chart below provides the criteria required to warrant the preparation of a RSA: 4.2 Scope The primary purpose of a RSA is to identify potential road safety issues for in-service roads. RSAs should not consider structural integrity, only those matters which have an 5 P a g e
adverse effect on road safety. A RSA is not a check of compliance with design standards or domains. A RSA does not protect the designer or constructor of the project from non-compliance with design standards or domains. A schematic of the process in presented below: Typically, the RSA Team will focus of the following three elements: Traffic operations o Visibility and sight distances o Intersection spacing, layout, channelization, access and turning paths o Traffic control devices visibility, placement and signal timing o Signing, delineation and pavement markings o Design speed and operating speed o Operation of any passing or acceleration/deceleration lanes o Potential queue or storage requirements o Intersection capacity warrants 6 P a g e
o Other physical inputs Existing design elements o Design criteria such as design speed and road classification o Cross-section elements (lane width, shoulder width, clear zone, etc.) o Horizontal and vertical alignments and profiles o Illumination warrants o Design consistency o Roadside hazard management including bridges, structures and culverts o Other physical inputs Human Factors and Limitations o Driver expectancy related to roadway design and traffic control devices o Reaction time to meet decision sight distance criteria o Visual field limitations related to the placement of traffic control devices o Hazard detection and avoidance (particularly at night) o Design characteristics related to desired operating speed o Transient changes in illumination o The conspicuity, legibility, comprehensibility of traffic information The RSA Team Checklist (attached in Appendix B) is intended to provide additional consideration. These procedures do not cover road maintenance unless a specific requirement to carry out a road safety audit has been specified. 4.3 Value Engineering A RSA can effectively be integrated with a value engineering process to ensure the best value is being delivered. Refer to the TAC Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide for the three (3) ways to integrate the RSA and the value engineering. 4.4 Road Safety Audit Report The road safety audit report should follow the procedures described in the TAC, Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide. A County sample template is attached in Appendix A. 4.5 Roles and Responsibilities 4.5.1 Project Owner 7 P a g e
The project owner is County Council. 4.5.2 Road Safety Audit Team For road safety audit team requirements, refer to the TAC Canadian Road Safety Audit Guide. In addition, the following specific requirements apply: The RSA team should consist of minimum two members; One (1) member shall be a registered Professional Engineer in the local jurisdiction of the project; One (1) member shall be a Civil Engineering Technician with relevant experience in roadway engineering; It is desirable to have a mix of experience years and gender. The RSA team is responsible for the preparation and reporting of the RSA. 4.5.3 Design Team As the County will typically only be completing in-service RSA, a design team will not be required. 4.5.4 Stakeholder Group This group will be compromised of potential representatives or groups that are to be consulted with during the preparation of the RSA. An example list of possible candidates is below: County Public Works, Operations Staff Local municipal staff Police Service Board Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Peterborough Police Local enforcement officers General public Political representation Accessibility Advisory Committee member Other related groups/organizations The purpose of the stakeholder group is to gather anecdotal evidence and data/ information from the experience s the stakeholders may have. 5.0 Reporting 8 P a g e
The draft RSA report will be present to the initiators of the RSA. The final RSA report will be subject to the approval of the County of Peterborough Director of Public Works for recommendation to County Council and subject to the approval of County Council. Appendix A Road Safety Audit Template 9 P a g e
1. Title Page Project name Project location Audit Stage (i.e. In-service Road Safety Audit, Final Report) Date Audit team members and qualifications Client name and address 2. Table of Contents 3. Introduction 3.1 Road Safety Audit Methodology and Objectives 3.2 Road Safety Audit Team List each member, their qualifications, and organization if applicable 3.3 Stakeholder Group List each member, their qualifications, and organization if applicable 3.4 Audit Process Meetings (including with whom, date and reason for meeting) Inspections (date, time, weather conditions, etc.) Discuss documentation not provided on plans Description of the procedure used Statement regarding the disclaimer for liability for the audit team 3.5 Description of Project Roadway name(s) with approximate direction of each (i.e. north/south direction) The Local Municipal jurisdiction Road classifications Existing road cross-section details Existing road geometrics Condition ratings Recent road improvements (include year) Type of intersection control Existing posted speed limit Existing operating speed (include 85 th percentile speed) Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) 10 P a g e
Manual Turning Movement Count Date and Peak Hour Information Include a Site Map Surrounding Lane Use Existing site conditions (i.e. any existing illumination, flashing beacons etc.) Existing sight triangle Existing Pedestrian or cycling facilities Overview of crash data (include crash rate) Etc. 4. Project Data / Observations Include all findings, observations and suggestions. Group similar ones where applicable. Discuss any assumptions required. Compile the potential solutions/improvements. Reference to the RSA Team Checklist (see Appendix B) for inclusion of project data required to proceed to the Audit Analysis. 5. Audit Analysis A detailed review of the design drawings (geometric review) and other relevant documents, focusing on the safety performance of the design for all road users and according to the objectives of road safety audits. Include reference to the RSA Team Checklist (Appendix B). Highlight any areas of the checklist that require attention for further analysis. Assessing collision risks are key functions that must be performed in the audit analysis (prepare collision diagrams, etc.). Screen out non-safety issues. Value engineering considerations 6. Conclusions and Recommendations Provide a brief summary Discuss the results / findings Provide any recommendations and/or conclusions (i.e. remedial measures considering the three (3) E s being, Engineering, Education and Enforcement) 7. Names and Signatures of Auditors 8. Appendix A List of Figures 9. Appendix B List of Tables 10. Appendix C Collision Diagram(s) 11 P a g e
11. Appendix D Warrants (i.e. traffic signal, All-way Stop Control, illumination, Left Turn Lane, etc.) 12. Appendix E Stakeholder Correspondence (i.e. any letters, emails, Stakeholder Feedback Sheet, etc.) 13. Appendix F Additional Information (i.e. pictures, videos, etc.) Appendix B The RSA Team Checklist 12 P a g e
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1. General Project Parameters a. Road Classification b. Design Speed c. Applicable Design Standards / Guidelines d. Surrounding Lane Use e. Profile and Volume of Expected Users f. Previous Audit Results 2. Geometric Design a. Horizontal Alignment b. Vertical Alignment c. Cross-Section, including Shoulders d. Stopping, Crossing and Decision Sight Distances and Sight Line Obstructions e. Laning, including Lane Continuity, Passing and Climbing Lanes f. Merge, Weave, and Diverge areas g. Acceleration and Deceleration lanes h. Interchange Design Features, including Ramps and Loops i. Intersection Design Features, including Turn Radii j. Clear Zone, Hazard Protection and Barrier Design k. Drainage l. Pavement Condition m. Vertical Clearances (at overpasses) and lateral clearances n. Spacing of Design Elements o. Linkage/Transition to Existing Sections p. Traffic Calming Requirements q. Combinations of limit conditions r. Consistency within new Design and between Old and New Sections s. Barrier End Treatment 3. Traffic Operations a. Operating Speeds b. Congestion and Delays c. Queuing d. Access (driveways and major generators) e. Intersection Conflict Points f. Crash Records / History g. Turn Movements at Intersections and Driveways h. Turn Lane Requirements i. Maintenance: Ability to safely access areas requiring maintenance j. Progression k. Speed Limits and Speed Zones l. Potential for Traffic Diversion / Network Impacts m. Future Traffic Growth 14 P a g e
4. Control Devices a. Regulatory and Advisory Signs b. Pavement Markings and Rumble Strips c. Delineation Devices and Hazard Warning Signs d. Changeable Message Signs e. Advance Warning Flashers f. Spacing of Control Devices g. Location of Control Devices (overhead / side-mounted) h. Over-signing i. At-Grade Rail Crossing Control Requirements 5. Human Factors a. Control Device Visibility and Conspicuity b. Background Visual Attraction or Clutter c. Driver Expectancy of the Environment d. Driver Overload e. Need for Positive Guidance f. Public Education g. Enforcement 6. Environment a. Integration with Surrounding Lane Use b. Night / Dawn / Dusk Conditions and the Need for Lighting c. Rapid Change in Light Conditions and Tunnels d. Extreme Weather Conditions, Wind and Fog e. Headlight Glare f. Landscaping Impacts g. Gateway Treatments 7. Needs of All Road Users a. Pedestrians b. Children, the Elderly, and People with Disabilities c. Bicycles d. Motorcycles e. Equestrians f. Trucks g. Buses (transit) h. Recreational Vehicles i. Cars j. Other Modes 15 P a g e
Appendix C Stakeholder Feedback Sheet 16 P a g e
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