Applying the HSM to the Alternative Selection Process – Urban Suburban Arterial

• Authored by:  Elizabeth Wemple
• Event:  2010 National Conference on Access Management

Chapter 12 Predictive Method for Urban and Suburban Arterials

• Calculated predicted average crash frequency for each scenario and two no-build scenarios (3-lane and 5-lane volumes)
• Steps involved
  • Data collection of existing conditions
  • Calculation of predicted crashes
  • Report results
• Challenge: Local calibration data not available
  • Cannot report expected average crash frequency data
  • Response: Calculate predicted average crash frequencies for each scenario and compare on a relative basis to the respective no-build scenario (3-lane or 5-lane)

Conclusions

• Effective analysis for evaluating trade-offs between design features
  • Effectiveness constrained by challenges
• Results did not surprise engineers
  • Helped communicate point to elected officials and public