R O I V A H D E B R E V I R D & NE R U T C U R T S A R F N I Eddy June 2014 Foster Griggs Traill Steele North Dakota Valley City Barnes Local Road Safety Program Ransom PHASE 2 Wahpeton Sargent Richland TBG032714131858SEA North Dakota Local Road Safety Program Prepared by CH2M HILL SRF Consulting Group, Inc. On behalf of North Dakota Department of Transportation Grant Levi, P.E., Director June 2014 23 USC 409 NDDOT Reserves All Objections TBG040414214530MSP LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAM JUNE 2014 CONTENTS Contents Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ ES-1 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.2 Traffic Safety – A National Perspective .......................................................................... 1-2 1.2.1 AASHTO’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan and Safety Emphasis Areas ......... 1-3 1.3 North Dakota’s Statewide Safety Planning Efforts ....................................................... 1-3 1.4 Local Road Safety Program Overview ............................................................................ 1-5 2.0 Eastern Region Safety Emphasis Areas and Crash Overview .......................................... 2-1 2.1 Eastern Region Crash Overview ...................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 North Dakota Crash Mapping ............................................................................ 2-1 2.1.2 Facilities Analyzed ................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1.3 Crash Data Sets ..................................................................................................... 2-2 2.2 Eastern Region Safety Emphasis Areas .......................................................................... 2-7 2.3 Crash Risk Factors ............................................................................................................. 2-8 2.3.1 Rural Roadway Segments – Crashes on Paved Roads .................................... 2-9 2.3.2 Rural Curves – Crashes on Paved Roads in Curves ...................................... 2-13 2.3.3 Rural Intersections – Crashes at Thru-STOP Intersections ........................... 2-16 2.3.4 Urban Roadway Segments – Cities with Populations Greater than 5,000 (Cities of Valley City and Wahpeton) ........................................... 2-20 2.3.5 Urban Intersections – Right-Angle Crashes, Cities with Populations Greater than 5,000 (Cities of Valley City and Wahpeton) ............................. 2-23 2.3.6 Urban Intersections – Pedestrian/Bicycle Crashes, Cities with Populations Greater than 5,000 (Cities of Valley City and Wahpeton) ....... 2-26 2.4 Eastern Region Risk Summary ....................................................................................... 2-30 3.0 Eastern Region Priority Safety Strategies ............................................................................ 3-1 3.1 Background ......................................................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Initial/Comprehensive List of Potential Strategies ....................................................... 3-1 3.3 Safety Strategies Workshop ............................................................................................ 3-11 3.4 Priority Safety Strategies ................................................................................................. 3-11 4.0 Eastern Region Infrastructure Safety Projects ..................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Eastern Region Proactive Project Decision Process ....................................................... 4-1 Barnes County .................................................................................................................... 4-8 City of Valley City ........................................................................................................... 4-10 Eddy County ..................................................................................................................... 4-12 Foster County ................................................................................................................... 4-13 Griggs County .................................................................................................................. 4-14 Ransom County ................................................................................................................ 4-15 Richland County .............................................................................................................. 4-16 City of Wahpeton ............................................................................................................. 4-18 Sargent County ................................................................................................................. 4-20 Steele County .................................................................................................................... 4-21 Traill County ..................................................................................................................... 4-22 TBG040414214530MSP ii 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAM JUNE 2014 CONTENTS 5.0 Behavioral Safety Strategies ................................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Purpose of Driver Behavior Safety Strategies ................................................................ 5-1 5.2 Overview of Behavioral Crash Data for North Dakota’s Eastern Region .................. 5-1 5.3 Importance of Traffic Safety Culture Change ................................................................ 5-2 5.3.1 Influence of Traffic Safety Culture ..................................................................... 5-2 5.3.2 Social Norms Inhibiting a Strong Traffic Safety Culture ................................ 5-2 5.3.3 Social Levels Influencing Safety Culture ........................................................... 5-2 5.4 Behavioral Safety Strategies ............................................................................................. 5-4 5.4.1 Role of Policy, Education, and Enforcement ..................................................... 5-4 5.4.2 Effective Use of Public Information Strategies ................................................. 5-4 5.4.3 LRSP Phase 2 Priority Strategies ......................................................................... 5-5 5.4.4 Impaired Driving .................................................................................................. 5-6 5.4.5 Speeding and Aggressive Driving .................................................................... 5-12 5.4.6 Young Drivers ..................................................................................................... 5-15 5.4.7 Unbelted Occupants ........................................................................................... 5-17 5.5 Traffic Safety Office Supporting Resources ................................................................. 5-22 5.5.1 TSO Grant Program Application Process ........................................................ 5-22 5.5.2 Technical Assistance ........................................................................................... 5-22 5.5.3 Traffic Records/Crash Data .............................................................................. 5-22 References ................................................................................................................................. 5-24 TBG040414214530MSP iii 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAM JUNE 2014 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Acronyms and Abbreviations 4Es education, enforcement, engineering, and emergency medical services 100MVMT 100 million vehicle miles traveled AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ADT average daily traffic CMC county major collector CMF crash modification factor CRS Crash Reporting System (North Dakota Department of Transportation) DUI driving under the influence EMS emergency medical services ERA edge risk assessment FHWA Federal Highway Administration GDL graduated driver’s license GHSA Governors Highway Safety Association HSIP Highway Safety Improvement Program LEAD Listen, Educate, Ask, Discuss LRSP Local Road Safety Program MUTCD Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program NDDOT North Dakota Department of Transportation NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Plan LRSP Safety Plan PSA public service announcement SHSP Strategic Highway Safety Plan TSO Traffic Safety Office TBG040414214530MSP iv 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections Executive Summary This Local Road Safety Program (LRSP) was prepared for the nine counties (Barnes, Eddy, Foster, Griggs, Ransom, Richland, Sargent, Steele, and Traill) and two cities (Valley City and Wahpeton) in the eastern region. The LRSP was prepared as part of North Dakota’s statewide highway safety planning process. The contents are the result of a data-driven process, with a goal to reduce serious crashes (defined as those crashes resulting in at least one fatality or incapacitating injury) by documenting at-risk locations, identifying effective low-cost safety improvement strategies, and better position the eastern region to compete for available safety funds. The LRSP includes a description of the connection to safety planning efforts at the national, state (through North Dakota’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan and the Highway Safety Improvement Program), and regional levels. This LRSP was commissioned by the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) to provide a tool to assist counties in submitting proactive low-cost systemic safety projects for the NDDOT to fund as part of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). The LRSP is not intended to be a complete safety plan for the eastern region, because there may be other safety improvement strategies that are considered high-cost or low-cost that are also effective, but cannot be systematically applied across a county or local road system. While this LRSP addresses many of the safety concerns at high-risk locations within the region, other equally important projects may be identified after this safety planning effort is complete. Specifically, this LRSP includes the following:  Description of the safety emphasis areas.  Identification of a short list of high-priority, low-cost safety strategies.  Documentation of at-risk locations along the county/local road systems that are considered candidates for safety investment. At-risk locations include roadway segments, horizontal curves, and intersections with multiple serious crashes or with roadway geometry and traffic characteristics similar to other locations in North Dakota where serious crashes have occurred.  Development of approximately $6.7 million of suggested safety projects across the eastern region (Table ES-1), including the filled out forms suitable for submittal to the NDDOT for their consideration for HSIP funding. These projects represent the application of high- priority safety strategies at the at-risk locations.  Discussion of behavioral crash statistics, potential safety strategies, and current statewide resources available for implementation of behavioral safety strategies. TBG040614233503MSP ES-1 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAM JUNE 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TABLE ES-1 Eastern Region Total Safety Project Costs Roadway Rural Projects Segments Intersections Curves Total Barnes County $239,909 $304,320 $391,719 $935,948 Eddy County $72,468 $21,840 $101,272 $195,580 Foster County $144,240 $104,400 $72,246 $320,886 Griggs County $36,762 $160,320 $53,640 $250,722 Ransom County $150,936 $141,240 $29,520 $321,696 Richland County $447,912 $441,480 $89,541 $978,933 Sargent County $168,156 $342,360 $37,800 $548,316 Steele County $134,683 $54,000 $65,172 $253,855 Traill County $140,147 $238,920 $129,369 $508,436 Intersections – Roadway Intersections – Pedestrians and Urban Projects Segments Right-Angle Bicyclists Total Valley City $171,000 $7,200 $1,584,000 $1,762,200 Wahpeton $175,850 $374,400 $84,000 $634,250 The information in this LRSP is consistent with best practices in safety planning as presented in guidance prepared by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP). This information is provided to the eastern region in an effort to reduce the number of serious crashes on the county/local road systems. It is understood that the final decision to implement any of the suggested projects resides with the respective county or city officials. It should also be noted that the rankings of county/local roadway facilities are based on a comparison with documented risk factors. There is no expectation or requirement that the eastern region pursue safety projects in the exact ranking order. The ranking suggests a general priority, and it is understood that actual project development decisions will be made by county or city staff based on consideration of economic, social, and political issues, as well as in coordination with other projects already in each agency’s Capital Improvement Program. It should also be noted that some of the at-risk locations and suggested safety projects involve the intersection of a county roadway and a state route. It is acknowledged that the county does not have the authority to implement projects on the state’s right-of-way. The county is encouraged to coordinate with the NDDOT to pursue a partnership that identifies a path toward implementation. This LRSP (1) does not set requirements or mandates; (2) is not a standard; and (3) is neither intended to be nor does it establish a legal standard of care. TBG040614233503MSP ES-2 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAM JUNE 2014 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To help reduce the potential exposure to claims of negligence associated with motor vehicle crashes on the county/local road system, the following key point should be considered:  Federal law (23 USC Section 409) established that information generated as part of the statewide safety planning process is considered privileged and unavailable to the public. The privileged status includes crash data where value/detail has been added by analysts during the safety planning process (for example, computation of crash rates, disaggregation of crashes by type or severity, and documentation of contributing factors), the lists of at-risk locations, and information supporting the development and evaluation of potential safety projects. The federal law and the privileged status of the safety information was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Pierce County (Washington) v. Guillen. North Dakota interprets Section 409 to mean that basic crash data are available to the public on request, but that the data cannot be used in legal proceedings associated with claims of negligence. Regarding the expected life of this LRSP, the shelf life of this document is limited (as with any transportation plan). This is because the distribution of crashes can change over time, just as roadway and traffic conditions change, contributing to the occurrence of crashes. This LRSP contains $6.7 million of potential safety projects, which could provide the eastern region with a sufficient backlog of projects for up to 5 years. As a result, the counties and cities are encouraged to periodically update this LRSP. The counties and cities are encouraged to apply for these projects through the NDDOT’s HSIP process. The anticipated annual HSIP process is shown in Table ES-2. TABLE ES-2 HSIP Solicitation Schedule Month Task Description Solicitation for HSIP is sent out to all counties, districts, MPOs, cities, and tribes. The October/November counties, districts, MPOs, cities, and tribes will have about 6 weeks to respond. January through NDDOT reviews the requests and conducts additional studies if required. March HSIP approval notices are sent after program concurrence from the FHWA. Funding for Following Fall an approved project will be provided as funding is available. TBG040614233503MSP ES-3 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background To fulfill a commitment in the 2013 North Dakota Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) began the Local Road Safety Program (LRSP). The purpose of the LRSP is to better engage local roadway agencies in the statewide safety planning process. The NDDOT’s commitment is based on two pieces of information:  Based on 2007-to-2011 crash records, the SHSP identified that 56 percent of serious crashes (those crashes resulting in at least one fatality or incapacitating injury) in North Dakota occurred on roads operated by local agencies.  The NDDOT had historically focused federal safety funds on interstates, U.S. highways, and state highways, even though approximately half of serious crashes occurred on those facilities. The NDDOT set out to increase the level of participation of local agencies in safety The Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP)  planning and the amount of safety funds development process was key in helping us identify  the importance of local roads to achieve our long‐ directed toward projects on local systems. To term safety goals. This data‐driven process helped us  do this, the NDDOT first partnered with to transition to a systemic identification of crash  local agencies (including all 53 counties and types on all roads in addition to our traditional crash  12 major cities in the state) to prepare safety location (or hot spot) approach on the state system.  plans for every region of North Dakota. As a result, the NDDOT has partnered with local  stakeholder to prepare road safety plans that will  Representatives from the NDDOT, Barnes, identify potential safety projects consistent with the  Eddy, Foster, Griggs, Ransom, Richland, SHSP.  Sargent, Steele, and Traill counties; and the — Grant Levi, P.E., Director  cities of Wahpeton and Valley City prepared North Dakota Department of Transportation this LRSP Safety Plan (Plan) as Phase 2 of a comprehensive effort to reduce the number of fatal and incapacitating injury crashes (referred collectively as serious crashes) that occur on North Dakota’s local road system in the eastern region. The area covered by the Plan includes portions of NDDOT District 2 – Valley City, District 3 – Devils Lake, District 6 – Grand Forks, and District 8 – Fargo (Figure 1-1). Additionally, Cass and Grand Forks counties and the cities of Fargo, West Fargo, and Grand Forks participated in Phase 2 of the study; however, their information is provided in separate reports. The purpose of this LRSP is to identify and implement specific safety strategies at specific locations and to link these projects directly with the contributing factors associated with the majority of serious crashes on the local roads. These safety projects are intended to be comprehensive by addressing both infrastructure- and driver-behavior-related crashes by including proactive projects developed through a system-wide risk assessment process. These projects are intended to compliment reactive projects developed through a site analysis approach focused on high-crash locations. TBG040614233503MSP 1-1 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PROGRAM JUNE 2014 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The traffic safety priorities identified in this Plan are the result of a data-driven analysis of nearly 88,450 crashes (including 2,231 serious crashes) on all roads in North Dakota. Of these crashes, 5,709 total crashes and 194 serious crashes occurred in the eastern region over the 5-year period from 2008 to 2012. FIGURE 1-1 North Dakota Department of Transportation’s Eight Districts 1.2 Traffic Safety – A National Perspective According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 32,310 people were killed in traffic crashes in 2011—an average of 89 people killed every day—and an additional 2.2 million people were injured. The number of fatalities nationally decreased significantly and steadily in the 1970s and 1980s. Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing through the early 2000s, traffic fatalities began to increase. However, since 2005, traffic fatalities have decreased dramatically to the lowest number of fatalities in recent history— 32,310 fatalities in 2011. Like the national trend, the North Dakota traffic fatality rate also decreased in the 1970s and 1980s. Likewise, North Dakota’s traffic fatalities slowly increased through the 1990s and early 2000s, and began to decrease again in 2005. However, unlike the national trend, North Dakota’s traffic fatality rate has increased since 2008. The 2013 North Dakota Strategic Highway Safety Plan recognizes the following issues likely account for much of the increase:  Shifts in the age of the driving population.  Steady increase in the number of vehicle miles traveled in North Dakota, which is counter to the flat or decreasing national trend in travel. TBG040614233503MSP 1-2 23 USC 409: NDDOT Reserves All Objections