Speaker:

Kathleen Harder, Senior Research Associate, Center for Sustainable Building Research, College of Design, University of Minnesota

Description:

This seminar featured the results of the third in a series of studies investigating various aspects of rumble strips. In this study, to determine the effect of rumble strips on the real-world stopping behavior of drivers, the researchers used a radar gun to collect speed data from over 400 vehicles on the approaches to ten intersections selected from a sample of 274 approaches. They found that, after drivers encountered the first set of in-lane rumble strips, they slowed down earlier on real-world approaches with rumble strips than on real-world approaches without rumble strips. The difference was, on average, 2.0 mph to 5.0 mph (depending on vehicle category and type of approach). In addition, speeding outliers were more likely to slow down earlier on approaches with rumble strips. The effect of the presence of in-lane rumble strips on stopping behavior was greater for approaches where the driver s view of traffic on the major road is obscured on one or both sides of the road.

The study suggests that stop-controlled intersections at which cross-traffic is obscured by manmade structures and/or vegetation on one or both sides of the intersection would be good candidates for implementing in-lane rumble strips. It is worth noting that while in-lane rumble strips are likely to reduce crashes, they cannot eliminate them. Some drivers might still run stop signs and others might misjudge gaps.

Speaker:

Derek Tompkins, Associate Director, Pavement Research Institute

Description:

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) began construction on the Minnesota Road Research Project (MnROAD) in 1991 and opened the full-scale pavement research facility to live traffic in 1994. Since the time of its construction, MnROAD, the first major test track since the AASHTO Road Test of the 1950s and 1960s, has produced a number of lessons on behalf of the greater pavement community. As part of completing the first phase of MnROAD (its first ten years of operation), researchers at the University of Minnesota reviewed the many products of MnROAD. The Lessons Learned project involved over 50 interviews, 300 published and unpublished reports, papers, and briefs, and an online survey of pavement professionals. This seminar will present an overview of MnROAD products of interest at the local, state, and national levels. Furthermore, the seminar will provide extensive references for these products in hopes of increasing awareness of MnROAD’s underpublicized contributions to pavement engineering.

The Role of Well-Designed Transportation Projects Enhancing Communities

Speaker:

Lance Neckar, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture

Robert Johns, Director, CTS

Description :

Transportation projects affect communities in ways that go far beyond the immediate needs of moving people and goods from one place to another. In a time of limited resources at every level of government, communities need to understand these impacts in order to maximize available transportation dollars.

The speakers will introduce this interdisciplinary research effort, which examines the measurable benefits of well-designed transportation projects in order to identify projects and processes that create positive outcomes in a variety of areas, including public health and safety, environmental protection, economic development, aesthetics, and cultural enrichment.

Protecting Public Health, Safety and the Environment

Speaker:

John Carmody, Director, Center for Sustainable Building Research

Description:

Carmody will highlight the positive and negative impacts of transportation projects on public health, safety, and the environment. Benefits such as improved community access to goods and services must be balanced against potential negative impacts including pollution, resource depletion, and the reduction of biodiversity.

Promoting Economic Development

Speaker:

John Adams, Professor, Department of Geography

Description:

Adams will describe ways of measuring the economic impacts of transportation projects on their geographic settings. Defining economic development as distinct from land development, this research delves into the economic benefits of well-designed transportation projects using both spatial and temporal frameworks of analysis.