AGENDA #5f

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Mayor and Town Council

FROM:            W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

SUBJECT:      2005 Annual Report on Intersection Safety and Operations at High Accident Locations

DATE:            January 9, 2006

PURPOSE

This annual report provides information regarding staff review, findings, and recommended engineering alternatives for improving safety and operations at high accident intersection locations in Chapel Hill. Town staff, in coordination with State staff, will continue to review high accident intersections in Chapel Hill, and will identify and implement improvements intended to reduce accidents and improve safe and effective operations at identified intersections.

No action is required by the Town Council in response to this report.

BACKGROUND

At its January 10, 2005 meeting, the Town Council received a report (Attachment 2) from the Manager in response to the Council’s request for information on street intersections with traffic accident problems and on possible measures that could improve safety and operations at these intersections. 

That report included a summary of reported accidents for 2001, 2002, and 2003 involving vehicles, pedestrians, and/or bicyclists at or near intersections within the Chapel Hill town limits. The report also provided information regarding possible measures for improving safety and traffic operations at signalized and unsignalized intersections with high accident records.

The Council approved the following recommendations presented in the Manager’s January 10, 2005 report:

· Request that State staff work with Town staff to identify, develop and implement measures to improve safety and traffic operations at selected intersections.

· Refer the report to the Transportation Board and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board for comments.

The Manager also informed the Council that he would provide annual reports regarding progress on identifying and implementing improvement measures at high accident intersections in Chapel Hill. 

DISCUSSION

ACCIDENT DATA

The Statewide Accident Database System includes all “reported” traffic accidents, including bicycle and pedestrian related accidents.  Attachment 2 provides a summary report including all categories of traffic accidents reported in Chapel Hill for the years 2001, 2002, and 2003.  Attachment 2 also provides specific data on bicycle and pedestrian accidents in Chapel Hill for the years 2001, 2002, and 2003.  The Engineering Department staff came to the following conclusions based on our preliminary analysis of this accident data.

Accidents at Intersections in Chapel Hill:

• The highest accident locations are on State roads.
• The majority of the high accident locations are on Fordham Boulevard (US 15/501).
• Rear-end collisions are the most common type of traffic accident.
• Angle collisions are the second most common type of traffic accident.
• Speeding and/or driver inattention contribute to approximately 50 percent of all recorded traffic accidents.

Over the three-year data analysis period, the total number of recorded accidents at intersections in our system varied from 1 to 52.   We identified the following 10 intersections with the highest number of reported accidents (in all categories) over the three-year period 2001 through 2003.

TOP TEN INTERSECTION LOCATIONS BASED ON THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS DURING THE THREE YEAR PERIOD 2001 – 2003

Rank	Location	Traffic Control	Accident Numbers
			Total	2001	2002	2003
1	Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and Estes Drive	Signal	52	16	12	24
2	Fordham Boulevard and NB Off-Ramp onto NC 54 Eastbound	Stop Sign	45	14	10	21
2	Fordham Boulevard and Eastowne Drive/Lakeview Drive	Signal	45	11	14	20
3	Columbia Street and Franklin Street	Signal	43	20	9	14
3	Fordham Boulevard and Elliott Road	Signal	43	12	16	15
4	Fordham Boulevard and Sage Road/Old Durham Road	Signal	41	11	13	17
5	Franklin Street and Estes Drive	Signal	40	17	10	13
6	Fordham Boulevard and Estes Drive	Signal	36	15	9	12
7	Fordham Boulevard and Ephesus Church Road	Signal	33	13	11	9
7	Fordham Boulevard and Old Mason Farm Road	Signal	33	11	12	10
8	Columbia Street and Rosemary Street	Signal	31	14	9	8
9	Fordham Boulevard and Manning Drive	Signal	30	11	9	10
10	Fordham Boulevard and Eastowne Drive/BCBS Entrance	Signal	30	13	10	7

Bicycle Accidents in Chapel Hill:

· A total of 34 bicycle-related accidents occurred from 2001 to 2003 (15 accidents in 2001, 9 accidents in 2002, and 10 accidents in 2003)

· 10 bicycle-related accidents occurred on Airport Road from 2001 to 2003

Pedestrian Accidents in Chapel Hill:

· A total of 49 pedestrian-related accidents occurred from 2001 to 2003 (21 accidents in 2001, 13 accidents in 2002, and 15 accidents in 2003)

· The majority of pedestrian-related accidents occurred in the downtown area

STAFF REVIEW PROCESS

Our review process for selected intersections includes the following elements:

• review of accidents reports to determine any patterns in types and severity of accidents
• field inspection of all traffic control devices associated with the intersection, including pavement markings, signing, and traffic signal equipment
• review of traffic signal phasing, timing, and coordination
• review of geometric conditions at and near the intersection, including sight lines

Any improvements and/or mitigation measures recommended at intersections on State roads must be reviewed and approved by the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Based on our review and field investigation of the selected intersections, several improvement measures were identified.  Some of the improvements have already been implemented and others are either still under investigation or planned for implementation in 2006.  Please see Attachment 1 which lists recommended improvement measures and the implementation schedule.

The following list highlights improvement measures that have been or soon will be implemented at intersections in Chapel Hill and Carrboro:

• All lenses on traffic signals at intersections on State roads have been upgraded with light emitting diode (LED) lenses. 
• Countdown pedestrian heads have been installed at most intersection in the downtown area, and the State has agreed to upgrade existing pedestrian heads to countdown heads at other locations to the extent possible with available State funds.
• Town staff implemented new traffic signal timing plans in 2005 for intersections on the downtown Chapel Hill/Carrboro corridors.  Traffic signal timing plans for intersections on the Fordham Boulevard/US 15-501 corridor and the NC 86/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard/South Columbia Street corridor will be revised in 2006.
• As a part of its Development Plan, the University will upgrade several intersections in 2006 as presented below:
• Upgrade the traffic signal at Cameron Avenue/Country Club Road and Raleigh Street with larger lenses and pedestrian amenities.

• Upgrade the traffic signal at Pittsboro Street and McCauley Street with larger lenses and pedestrian countdown heads.
• Upgrade the traffic signal at Pittsboro Street and Cameron Avenue with larger lenses.
• Bicycle activated traffic signal loops will be installed at the Country Club Road/South Road/Raleigh Road intersection in 2006.
• Larger traffic signal lenses, improved pedestrian amenities, and bicycle actuation loops will be installed at  intersections on Rosemary Street and Cameron Avenue in 2006.
• A pedestrian refuge island and mid-block crosswalk on East Franklin Street between Estes Drive and Elliott Road is presently being designed for installation late in 2006.
• Traffic signal phasing will be modified at the Willow Drive/Fordham Boulevard intersection in 2006 to better accommodate turning traffic.

In addition to the above mentioned projects, the State is planning to upgrade traffic facilities and pedestrian features at several intersections in Chapel Hill, as outlined in Attachment 3.  Depending on State contracting, we expect these improvements to be completed before the end of 2006.

BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS AND COMMENTS

The Town Council asked that we provide the January 10, 2005 report to the Transportation Board and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board for review and comment. The Transportation Board reviewed the report and voted 6-0 to support the Manager’s recommendations.  The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board reviewed the report and provided several comments.  The Board comments and recommendations are provided in Attachment 4.  We will report on the status of our response to Board recommendations in our 2006 annual report to the Council.

CONCLUSION

We believe that the intersection review process has been successful in identifying and implementing improvements in the safety and operation of high accident intersections in Chapel Hill.  We will continue to work with the State to review traffic accident records and to identify high accident intersections and possible improvement measures.  We will provide a 2006 annual report in January 2007 for the Council’s review and consideration.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Recommendations and Implemented Engineering Solutions for High Accident Locations (p. 5).

2. January 10, 2005 Council Report (p. 7).

3. Copy of the letter from the State for Several Projects in Chapel Hill (p. 42).

4. Board Recommendations (p. 46).