Did you know? According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) crash statistics, at least 40% of all vehicle fatalities are on local roads! That is an alarming number, and surprisingly three-times higher than interstate systems. Local Road Safety Plans (LRSP) provide targeted solutions in addressing the roadway safety needs within your community.
In all communities, there are local road safety issues that span engineering solutions. California agencies are encouraged to adopt the LRSP process because it looks not only at the engineering side (data-driven collision analysis or systemic risk analysis), but also takes in key pieces of information from a more holistic standpoint in evaluating input from the 4 E’s of traffic safety, and soon to be added a 5th E.
What is LRSP and its Goal?
LRSP is the preferred safety process plan for FHWA and Caltrans, which looks at data-driven collision analysis more holistically by evaluating input from key stakeholders. In aligning with California’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP,) the overall goal of an LRSP is to reduce fatalities and injury collisions. Particularly, at high-frequency locations where low-cost counter measures can be applied, or systemically to sites with similar risk characteristics.
Safety Solutions
LRSP engages with key stakeholders to create the Vision, Goals, and Mission Statement, which guides engineering and non-engineering safety solutions, including low-cost safety countermeasures such as:
- Proven engineering countermeasures
- Education campaigns
- Additional enforcement
- Better collision reporting systems
- Innovative safety policies and practices that align with the Vision of the LRSP
- Emerging Technologies - Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), web or mobile device applications development or deployment and Smart Cities practices
Who are the key stakeholders?
- Law enforcement
- Public health officials
- Agency departments
- Emergency responders
- Local school district
- Jurisdictional roadway partners
- Community Based Organizations
- Bicycle and pedestrian organizations/advocates
- Any additional local party that could add value in improving road safety for the Agency
What agencies need to know or consider for LRSP
Confidence saves lives. Providing safe public infrastructure that citizens can use - whether driving, walking, biking, or taking public transit – creates confidence, that can contribute to saving lives. By advancing risk-based, data-driven and systemic approaches to improving the safety of local roadways, fatal and injury crashes can be significantly reduced.
LRSP is proactive. Existing “hot-spot” data-driven solutions are for reactive conditions. LSRP’s are a collaborative process that involves a holistic stakeholder group with local road safety knowledge, including citizen complaints, emergency response challenges, lack of bicycle or pedestrian accommodations, or high-risk roadway or intersection characteristics. Identifying these challenges before a potential collision occurs would allow a more proactive systemic solution. Public outreach and public feedback are also essential in gaining valuable insight that can be used to address the real safety issues. Collision data does not always show the entire picture.
LRSP will guide the Agency’s safety priorities for the next five years in identifying goals, areas of concerns, and prioritized projects for HSIP funding.
Why Agencies should act now
Road safety is, and always will be, an important issue for communities across California. Improving safety measures will save lives, lower fatality statistics and improve quality of life for all users. This living plan is adopted by the governing legislative body of the Agency (City Council or Board of Supervisors) and typically re-evaluated every three to five years. Adopting an LRSP provides the Agency with a roadmap on how to navigate road safety for all road users, along with safety goals and prioritized projects for future Highway Safety Improvement Plan (HSIP) applications. Note that an adopted LRSP will be a requirement for grant applications with HSIP Cycle 11 in 2022.
LRSP’s also empower locals to incorporate safety into routine business (maintenance, capital improvements) and allow for greater awareness of road safety and risks to reduce injuries and fatalities.
Our collaborative approach to working with stakeholders
When working with local stakeholders, it is important that all parties have a solid understanding of the overall safety issues so that recommendations for improvement can be provided to an Agency. In order to plan both comprehensive and systemic countermeasures to mitigate future collisions, GHD’s analysis and process includes:
- Five years of collision analysis
- Detailed characteristics and locations of those collisions in diagnosing the cause and possible collision trends
- Local perspective in diagnosing the collision causes
- Evaluation of high-risk roadway characteristics
- Prioritization of all safety benefits (i.e., collision reduction by collision severity) to allow Benefit to Cost B/C ratios to be developed
Finally, GHD will summarize the overall costs and benefits of proposed improvements in the LRSP per the HSIP analyzer methodology for the top-ranking projects, and identify HSIP eligible priority projects that can be used for the next call for projects.
“GHD has a long and successful history of developing and implementing traffic safety plans and programs,” says Project Team leader, Kathryn Kleinschmidt. “We have completed several successful approvals for Systemic Safety Analysis Reports (SSAR) for cities and counties, and are currently leading 10 LRSPs across California. Our experience has helped Agencies reduce collisions and improve chances of obtaining HSIP and/or ATP grants.”
The role of LRSP in the future of planning and grant funding
Development Review | SB 743 CEQA
SB 743 was primarily adopted to establish Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) as the new traffic impact metric. However, it also places more emphasis on traffic safety goal attainment through the Land Use development review process. The LRSP would include a task to integrate a practical Safety Assessment/Analysis mechanism as a standardized methodology for evaluating the effect of Land Use proposals on traffic safety, establish a nexus, and identify potential mitigation strategies.
Grant Funding
Adopting an LRSP can also help with future HSIP grant funding (Cycle 11) and as a plan to identify all available funding opportunities and eligible projects. Grant funding sources could be from HSIP, Active Transportation Plan (ATP), Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ), Safe Routes to School (SRTS), and/or stimulus funding. The goal of the plan is to favorably position the agency in acquiring future grant funding and implementing the low-cost countermeasures in the field.[TM4]
For more information on LRSP’s for your community, contact Kathryn Kleinschmidt.