Form ProjStat
(Rev. 5/2013)
(RTI)
Research Project Statement 17-107
FY 2017 Annual Program
Title:
Developing Pavement Safety-Based Guidelines for Improving Horizontal Curve Safety
(Deliverable Based)
The Problem:
In recent years, there has been renewed interest in addressing run-off-road and horizontal-curverelated crashes on rural highways nationwide. TxDOT is increasing its efforts to improve rural
highway curve safety by including high-friction surface treatments among the treatment options
for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding. A handful of efforts are underway in
the state to install these treatments or other treatments that are intended to improve safety by
increasing pavement skid resistance. However, HSIP funds are very limited. There were about
$1.2 billion of submittals to HSIP in 2014, but HSIP only receives about $155 million per year in
funding.
There is a need to prioritize projects carefully to spend the limited funds where they would yield
the greatest benefit in terms of crashes reduced and injuries and fatalities prevented. Much is
known about the influence of roadway design characteristics on safety performance, and this
knowledge is reflected in documents like the Roadway Safety Design Workbook and the
Highway Safety Manual, but pavement characteristics have not been incorporated into these
analysis tools. Life-cycle benefit-cost analyses of pavement-related treatments also need to be
improved by incorporating knowledge of treatment longevity and weather patterns.
Technical
Objectives:
1. Synthesize the best currently-available insights regarding safety performance of rural
highway curves and pavement treatment longevity.
2. Conduct a detailed safety analysis to quantify the safety influence of key pavement
characteristics while accounting for other curve geometry and traffic control characteristics,
such as radius, superelevation rate, and signs and markings.
3. Develop an evaluation framework that allows the practitioner to estimate the life-cycle
benefits of a curve safety treatment. This framework would likely take the form of a
spreadsheet tool or simple executable program that would give results in terms of crash
frequency and severity as well as crash costs over the life cycle of a proposed treatment.
4. Draft policy guidelines for inclusion in documents, such as the Pavement Design Guide and
the Wet-Surface Crash Reduction Program documentation.
Desired
Deliverables:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Proposal
Requirements:
1. Utilize the deliverable based templates (see the appendices provided or in the University
Handbook).
2. Proposals will be considered non-responsive and will not be accepted for technical
evaluation if they are not received by the deadline or do not meet the requirements stated in
RTI’s University Handbook.
3. Proposals should be submitted in PDF format, 1 PDF file per proposal. File name should
include project name and university abbreviation.
Pre-Proposal
Meeting
Information:
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
11:00 – 11:30AM
Austin Riverside Campus
118 E. Riverside Dr.
RTI Conference Room, 1st Floor
Value of Research (VoR) that includes both qualitative and economic benefits.
A project summary report.
A final report.
An evaluation framework spreadsheet tool and accompanying documentation.
Webex Information:
1. Go to:
Project Statement 17-107
Form ProjStat
(Rev. 5/2013)
(RTI)
https://txdot.webex.com/mw0401lsp13/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=txdot&rnd=0.9091095085622
569
2. Meeting Number: 735 915 144
3. If requested, enter your name and email address.
4. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: FY 17
5. Click "Join".
Teleconference Information:
Provide your phone number when you join the meeting to receive a call back. Alternatively, you
can call:
Call-in toll-free number: 1-866-637-1408 (US)
Conference Code: 951 211 7290
Notifying RTI of
Intent to
Propose:
Notify your University Liaison of your intent to submit a proposal. Your Liaison will provide
information regarding the RFP.
Proposal
Deadline:
Proposals are due to RTI by 4:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time, April 14, 2016. Email
submissions should be sent to rtimain@txdot.gov.
Project Statement 17-107