Roadway Safety Tools for Local Agencies (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 61-100
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61 APPENDIX F Traffic Information Program Series (TIPS) These briefs are reprinted with permission from ITE and are available on the ITE website: (http://www.ite.org/councils/tengineering.htm#tips)
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62 Bicycling In the National Bicycling and Walking Study, the U.S. Department of Transportation set national goals for bicycling and walking.
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63 transportation and recreation, as it reduces congestion, improves air quality, and enhances this community's quality of life." Bicycle plans should address a number of issues, including a policy statement, goals and objectives, existing conditions and/or problem areas, and a recommended strategy (with action items and measurable benchmarks) for improving conditions for bicycling.
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64 What is the law concerning school buses? School buses can be identified by their unique yellow/orange color; black "SCHOOL BUS" and number or district markings in black; and the red and yellow (and now strobe)
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65 Why include this? The School Bus Stop Ahead sign may be used when a school bus stopped to load or unload passengers is not visible for a distance of 500 feet in advance.
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66 Citizen Participation What can a citizen do to help reduce traffic accidents? A primary goal of any traffic engineer is to make our roadways as safe as possible.
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67 # Report Acts of Vandalism to law enforcement, traffic engineering and maintenance officials. # Support Traffic Safety Officials to ensure that they have adequate budgets for staff, equipment and supplies to do their jobs properly.
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68 Why are those orange signs around road construction sites? Whenever work is done on or near the roadway, drivers are faced with changing and unexpected traffic conditions.
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69 utility operations. However, orange color warning signs have application for all work activities within the right of way such as survey crews or temporary weighing stations.
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70 Four-Way Stop Signs Why can't we have an all-way stop to reduce accidents? Many people believe that installing STOP signs on all approaches to an intersection will result in fewer accidents.
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71 quickly to control traffic until the signal is designed and installed.
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72 HOV Lanes What is an HOV Lane? In recent years, high-occupancy vehicle (HOV)
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73 There are essentially four different types of high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) lanes used on freeways: • Exclusive HOV Facility - Separate Right-of-Way.
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74 Lower Speed Limits Why not lower the speed limit to reduce hazards in our area? An unrealistically low speed limit can actually lead to accidents.
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75 Maximizing Transportation Operations What can be done to provide a safe and efficient transportation system in existing or new development corridors? Traffic engineers are striving to provide roadway conditions that contribute to smooth and efficient traffic flow.
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76 C Reducing new demand on the highway system by implementing techniques such as ride sharing and alternative work hours. C Promoting mass transit where feasible.
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77 Median Treatments Why are two-way left-turn lanes and raised medians used? The two most commonly used median treatments on urban and suburban arterials are two-way left-turn lanes (TWLTLs)
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78 median could cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle. Furthermore, a raised median (particularly a narrow island)
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79 Right of Way Regulations What gives a public agency the right to dig up my front yard? Ask a homeowner where they believe the property line is in front of their house.
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80 Sometimes, it is necessary for a public agency to acquire a piece of private property to facilitate a roadway improvement. In this case, the piece of property needed is bought by the public agency.
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81 School Zones School Crossing Sign What is the law with regard to school speed zones? Reduced speed limits may be desirable or necessary for school zones during the hours when children are going to and from school.
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82 School Advance Sign The school crossing sign, sometimes confused with the school advance sign, is intended for use at established crossings including signalized intersections used by pupils going to and from school. The sign should be omitted at crossings controlled by stop signs.
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83 Sign Shapes Why are traffic signs different shapes? Traffic signs convey information to travelers through their shape, color, message, and placement.
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84 Speed Humps Can speed humps be installed on my street? A speed "hump" is a raised area in the roadway pavement surface extending transversely across the travel way.
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85 Most agencies have a Speed Control Plan which either advocates the use of speed humps as a system wide tool to reduce speeds and/or vehicular volumes or eliminates their use unconditionally. When determining whether to install speed humps, the following restrictions may apply: 1.
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86 Speed Limits How are speed limits established? In general, the governing body which has jurisdictional control over a roadway has the power to establish the speed limit for that roadway.
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87 level of compliance and create a reasonable uniform flow of traffic. Other factors which are also used in making a determination of the posted speed limit include road surface characteristics, shoulder condition, grade (i.e., steepness of the road)
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88 Stop Sign and Bar Placement Where should a stop sign and stop bar (line) be placed at an intersection?
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89 A stop bar, when used, should ordinarily be placed 4 feet in advance of and parallel to the nearest crosswalk line. In the absence of a marked crosswalk, the stop bar should be placed at the desired stopping point and in no case more than 30 feet or less than 4 feet from the nearest edge of the intersecting roadway.
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90 Stop Signs How do you decide where to install STOP signs? STOP signs are traffic control devices that drivers encounter every day.
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91 warrants. However, if an intersection meets a warrant, a STOP sign does not have to be installed.
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92 Traffic Engineering What is traffic engineering? The Institute of Transportation Engineers defines traffic engineering as "that phase of engineering which deals with the planning, geometric design and traffic operations of roads, streets and highways...their networks, terminals, abutting lands and relationships with other modes of transportation...for the achievement of safe, efficient and convenient movement of persons and goods." When roads and streets were built many years ago, the biggest task facing the road builder was to keep them passable in all types of weather.
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93 Traffic Sign Colors Why are traffic signs different colors? The objective of traffic signs is to convey traffic control information to the driver.
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94 Traffic Sign Types Traffic signs are classified as: ! regulatory signs !
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95 signs have blue and brown backgrounds, respectively. Other guide signs such as route designations may use a variety of colors depending on the type of road and state or local practice.
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96 Traffic Signal Warrants What are traffic signal "Warrants? " In order to ensure that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of installing a traffic signal, and to provide some consistency in the application of traffic signals, a series of warrants has been developed to define the minimum conditions under which further consideration of a traffic signal is appropriate.
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97 Tree Removal Why do they have to remove those trees next to my roadway? One of the most critical elements of design in considering the layout of a driveway or intersection is sight distance.
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98 vehicles that may stray from the travel way. If trees are immediately adjacent to the roadway (or in some instance actually encroach into it)
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99 Turn Lanes Why are turn lanes used? Turn lanes at intersections are used primarily to separate turning traffic from through traffic.
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