Utilities and Roadside Safety (2004)

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Foreword The purposes of this report are to compile the latest information on utility company,state department of transportation (DOT), and local highway agency roadsidesafety programs; to describe the current status of a combined federal and industry effort to implement roadside safety, including yielding poles; and to document recent developments in guardrail, concrete barrier, and crash cushion design to reduce utility maintenance costs, potential liability, and public health costs. Strategies are identified to deal with a relatively small number of poles on a prioritized, cost-effective basis. The report includes cost comparisons of various safety treatments for prioritized utility poles in highway rights-of-way, and a summary of the current status of litigation is given to provide an estimate of how recent precedents may affect future exposure. The development of this report has a long history. The Transportation Research Board’s Utilities Committee (AFB70, formerly A2A07), recognizing the significant influence on roadside safety of utility poles within highway rights-of-way, in 1997 formed a Utility Safety Task Group under the leadership of Don L. Ivey and C. Paul Scott. That Task Group directed its attention to ways that could make the roadside safer without the incurring of prohibitive costs by either utilities or state DOTs. The Task Group organized and guided the effort to develop a state-of-the-art report on the influence of utilities on roadside safety. To obtain the necessary information to prepare this report, task group leaders secured the participation of 22 nationally recognized professionals from utility companies, state DOTs, FHWA, universities, and private consulting firms. The names of these individuals are listed below. An additional 10 individuals consented to serve as “advisors,” provid- ing document review and comment; these individuals’ names are also shown below. These 32 individuals provided invaluable assistance in compiling and reviewing this report. Over the past 4 years, this report has been developed through a process in which authors wrote the individual chapters, which were reviewed by the task group members and advisors and then discussed in committee during semiannual meetings. In addition, all 50 state DOTs and 72 utility companies were provided the opportunity to preview the document and provide review comments that allowed for further editions to strengthen the document. It is hoped that the resulting report will make a significant contribution to the resources available on this important topic. v

Arthur Dinitz, Transpo Industries William Fitzgerald, Federal Highway Administration Don Gordon, Wisconsin Electric (retired) Thomas V. Jackson, Georgia Power Company Leland Kissinger, Federal Highway Administration Dennis M. La Belle, M & T Consultants Larry Lee, Cincinnati Bell Telephone Company Richard W. Lee, New York State Depart- ment of Transportation David R. Lewis, David R. Lewis Group Jay K. Lindly, University of Alabama Jarvis Michie, JDM Consulting Engineer- ing (contributing author) Ken Weldon, Florida Department of Transportation Ted Williams, General Design, Inc. Bob Winans, Federal Highway Adminis- tration Sabin A. Yanez, Missouri Department of Transportation Charles V. Zegeer, North Carolina High- way Safety Research Center (contribut- ing author) Utility Safety Task Group Advisors Herbie Belvin, Consultant John F. Boozer III, Shakespeare Compos- ites and Electronics John Campbell, Texas Department of Transportation Ann Hersey, Federal Highway Adminis- tration David Kuhlman, Florida Power and Light Robert Linebaugh, Pennsylvania Depart- ment of Transportation Charles F. McDevitt, Federal Highway Administration Mark Sweet, Sunshine State One-Call of Florida Daniel S. Turner, University of Alabama C. V. Wootan, Texas Transportation Institute Transportation Research Board Representa- tives D. W. (Bill) Dearasaugh, Jr. Stephen F. Maher TRB Committee on Utilities (AFB70, formerly A2A07) Sabin A. Yanez, Missouri Department of Transportation, Chair Wil Arnett, Utility Support Services Rocco De Primo, Florida Department of Transportation Jeffrey H. Everson, Foster-Miller, Inc. Eduardo Garcia, Florida Power & Light Co. Don L. Ivey, Texas Transportation Insti- tute Ramankutty Kannankutty, City of Min- neapolis Kash Kasturi, Foster-Miller, Inc. James C. Kennedy, Jr., Battelle Memorial Institute Dennis M. La Belle, M & T Consultants, Inc. Marion E. Leaphart, South Carolina Department of Transportation Richard W. Lee, New York State Depart- ment of Transportation Jay K. Lindly, University of Alabama James R. Morgan, Texas Transportation Institute C. Paul Scott, Federal Highway Adminis- tration Steven J. Tidwell, TBE Group, Inc. Kenneth E. Weldon, Florida Department of Transportation V. Lynn Whitford, Oklahoma Department of Transportation Utility Safety Task Group Leaders Don L. Ivey, Texas Transportation Insti- tute (coauthor) C. Paul Scott, Federal Highway Adminis- tration (coauthor) Secretary Betsy Preston Hamilton, Texas Trans- portation Institute Utility Safety Task Group Members Ellen Ambler, Virginia Department of Transportation Wil Arnett, Utility Support Services Jeff Baker, Georgia Department of Trans- portation Brian Bowman, Auburn University Karen Brunelle, Federal Highway Admin- istration John F. Carney, Worcester Polytechnic Institute vi Utilities and Roadside Safety