Innovation Station: FHWA’s Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway Departures — FoRRRwD

FHWA’s Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway Departures — FoRRRwD

Thirty people will die today, and every day, in a rural roadway departure—accounting for one third of U.S. traffic fatalities. The Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway Departures (FoRRRwD) initiative provides technical assistance and training to States and local agencies across the country to address this deadly problem. FoRRRwD provides unique approaches and methods to deliver safety countermeasures and projects efficiently. FoRRRwD’s focus areas are identified through its four pillars—all public roads, proven countermeasures, systemic approaches, and safety action plans.

Many agencies are recognizing the need to address rural roadway departures on all public roads because over 40 percent of these deaths happen on roads off the State highway system. Not only are State DOTs assisting local agencies and encouraging them to use an appropriate share of Federal safety funds, but many are finding innovative methods to accomplish the goal.

In Connecticut, roadway departures are part of the Critical Roadway Locations Emphasis Area in the State’s 2017-2021 Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP). Countermeasures installed around the state include center line and edge line rumble strips and horizontal curve signing.

To learn more about how your agency can use innovative programs and mechanisms to deliver safety projects, watch this webinar from earlier this year. Additionally, you can visit the FoRRRwD website to learn more about the four pillars and watch the FoRRRwD overview video.

In EDC Outtakes—a series of short interview videos—State practitioners and FHWA personnel give insight into the current round of EDC innovations. In the latest edition, Matthew Enders, of the Washington State DOT, discusses several of the proven countermeasures recommended by the Focus on Reducing Rural Roadway Departures (FoRRRwD) team.

 

Excerpted from EDC News Weekly Newsletter, Published by the Federal Highway Administration, Center for Accelerating Innovation