West Virginia and the Regional Intergovernmental Council (RIC) have a benchmark goal to reduce fatalities by 50% and serious injuries by 66% before 2030. To achieve this goal, RIC retained B&N to perform road safety audits (RSAs) that identify, prioritize and implement safety infrastructure improvements to progress toward these benchmarks.
Through two contracts, the following locations were prioritized for further study based on evaluating the Equivalent Property Damage Only (EPDO) factor and feedback from stakeholders.
- Pennsylvania Avenue between Virginia Street and Washington Street (Completed in 2020)
- Patrick Street and Kanawha Boulevard (Completed in 2020)
- WV 34 between Great Teays Boulevard and I-64 (Completed in 2020)
- US 60 between Mile Branch Road and Hull Avenue (Completed in 2020)
- MacCorkle Avenue and Montrose Drive (Completed in 2020)
- Washington Street between Dooley Lane and Patrick Street (Completed in 2022)
- US 60 and Campbells Creek Drive (Completed in 2022)
- 1st Avenue and Center Street (Completed in 2022)
- WV 817 and Teays Valley Road (Completed in 2022)
- 10th Street between Myers and Grosscup (Completed in 2022)
B&N conducted safety studies and field reviews at each location, analyzed crash patterns and developed collision diagrams to determine the root cause of the crashes. Additional analyses for certain sites included Highway Safety Manual (HSM), benefit-to-cost ratio and capacity.
Stakeholder meetings were held to discuss the perceived concerns at the project location and review options for improvement. The stakeholders present included RIC, West Virginia Division of Highways (WVDOH), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), respective local jurisdictions and West Virginia Connecting Communities, which advocates for bicycling and walking alternatives.
All results and recommendations were packaged into a report for RIC and its stakeholders. Several of the study recommendations, specifically for the studies performed as a part of the 2020 contract, are in RIC’s 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan.