Research Project:

Management of Rural Expressways for Improved Safety and Operational Performance

Principal Investigator | Project Objective | Project Abstract | Task Descriptions | Project Period | Potential Benefits of the Project | Budget | TRB Keywords

Principal Investigator

Tom Maze
Iowa State University
(515) 294-8103
tmaze@iastate.edu

Project Objectives

• Develop a literature review on rural expressway safety, operational issues, and mitigation.
• Develop a database and process for identifying problem locations. 
• Develop a “toolbox” for taking safety into account when designing expressway corridors.
• Assist in developing guidelines for varying access controls on rural expressway corridors.
• Assist in developing guidelines for Intergovernmental Corridor Management Agreements.

Project Abstract

Rural expressways are intended to provide many of the mobility and safety benefits of a freeway at far lower cost. Thousands of miles of rural expressways were planned and programmed around the United States and the conversion of two-lane highways to four-lane expressways is the fastest growing portion of the national highway systems with states like Missouri, Nebraska, and Texas having built and building hundreds of miles of expressways during the current decade.

The Iowa DOT recently formed an interoffice expressway task force to develop a value engineering approach to improve the safety and operational performance of rural expressways. This project will support that team and help them satisfy some very specific objectives.  Although the work for the task force will focus on Iowa, the report, technology transfer workshop, and other products will be applicable elsewhere.

Task Descriptions

1. Literature Review

2. Data Collection

3. Identify Characteristics of Intersections that Result in Safety Issues

4. Develop a Safety Countermeasure, Planning and Design Tool Box

5. Criteria for Priority Access.

6. Development Intergovernmental Cooperative Guidelines

7. Planning and Designing for Expressway Safety Workshop

Project Period  

June 2007 – December 2008

Potential Benefits of the Project

This project will provide input to the task force and will result in changes in the design and operation of Iowa’s expressway system.

Budget

$125,000:  $62,500 MTC / $62,500 Match (Iowa DOT)

TRB Keywords

Rural Highway Policy, Rural Expressways, Access Management, High-Speed Divided Highway