Safety and accessibility effects of code modifications and traffic calming of an arterial road

doi:10.1016/j.aap.2005.11.002

Accident Analysis & Prevention

Volume 38, Issue 3, May 2006, Pages 455-461

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2005.11.002 Get rights and content

Abstract

The European Road E12 through the community center of Storuman, Sweden was reconstructed in 1999 and 2000. Pedestrian walkways, traffic islands, chicanes of a type referred to as “Danish buns”, a roundabout and a two-directional cycle track along the E12 were installed. The purpose of the reconstruction was to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, primarily for children, the elderly and the disabled, and to reduce the barrier effect of the E12 thoroughfare. In May 2000, the code governing the conduct of drivers at marked crosswalks in Sweden became stricter to improve safety and mobility for pedestrians. The combined effect of reconstructions and change of code was analyzed. Traffic behavior was studied at the intersection where the roundabout was constructed. Yield behavior towards pedestrians changed significantly. The difference was even greater with respect to yielding to child bicyclists – from 6% before to 84% after – even though the code change only related to pedestrians. Crash data analysis suggests a minor increase in fall injuries after reconstructions and change of code. Measures of speed, behavioral studies, questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and crash data analysis suggest that safety has increased not only along the E12 but also along adjacent roads. The final conclusion is that a bypass is not needed in a case like Storuman. Traffic calming of the main arterial through the town seems sufficient.

Section snippets

Background and aim

In Sweden, it has become increasingly common that citizens and/or interest groups do not to want bypasses around their communities. Reasons for this include a fear that the community will suffer economically with the loss of through traffic, and an extension of this fear that the community will lose its attractiveness. The positive effects of traffic are desired, but a drastic reduction of the negative effects is also desired. This point of view breaks the trend of the previously common desire

Reconstructions in Storuman

The Swedish Road Administration's Northern Region (1997) made an analysis of the problems in Storuman, and decided to reconstruct the E12. This was later followed by a school questionnaire and a traffic network analysis. With these included as a basis, countermeasures were suggested for traffic calming of the E12 through Storuman. Initial minor reconstruction in Storuman was carried out during the autumn of 1999, and was intensified during April/May 2000. Work continued during the entire summer

System effects due to reconstruction and change of code

Extensive measurements including video recordings were carried out before and after reconstructions at locations where traffic calming measures were to be implemented and also along an alternative route, see Fig. 1. The reconstruction, in combination with the change of code, had significant system effects. For example, it influenced the choice of mode and thereby the flow of pedestrians and bicyclists in the community, as well as the choice of route and speed of motor vehicles. Streets parallel

Slight increase in the number of accidents involving pedestrian falls

Police reported crash data and crashes registered in the database established by the medical health center in Storuman were analyzed separately for the before period. For the after period a new national database for reporting injuries called STRADA was used since it contains both types of crash records. The share of injuries with specified crash location increased after 1997, see Rosander (2005). The main reason for this seems to be that the positional exactness of the reporting system is

Pedestrians and bicyclists experienced increased safety and accessibility

Traffic behavior was studied at the intersection where the roundabout was constructed. Video recordings from before and after the reconstructions and change of code were used to study if pedestrians and cyclists were given way by drivers. Behavior of the motor vehicle drivers changed significantly. Before, 32% of children crossing as pedestrians were given way to by car drivers compared to 72% after. For cycling children, the difference was even greater, though the code change only concerned

Many disabled people were negative to the use of paving stones

After reconstruction and change of code, a qualitative interview survey was carried out with eight disabled people (who live in or near Storuman) and two representatives for disabled people. They were interviewed by telephone. Three people had impaired sight and a fourth one was totally blind. Three people had problems walking. One of the three was in a wheelchair. The interviews focused on the effects for the disabled concerning the reconstruction in Storuman. The result of the survey was that

Final conclusions and discussion

In a classical study of the effect of changing two-way stops to four-way stops at 222 intersections in Philadelphia. Ebbecke (1976) concluded that even though the accidents were reduced significantly by number at the treated intersections there was no total reduction of accidents in the area. Hauer (1985) concluded, when reviewing the results of Ebbecke, that there is a justified suspicion that mixing two and four-way stops degrades the safety of the two-way stops. However, as Hauer points out,

Acknowledgements

This paper was produced as part of a larger project, “system effects of traffic safety measures in urban areas”, financed by the Swedish Road Administration. The contact person for the head office of the Swedish Road Administration was Mr. Jan Ifver and from 2005 Mr. Per Wramborg. Funding for technology transfer was also provided by the Technical Research Centre of Finland (Mr. Heikki Kanner). We also had invaluable help from the personnel at the medical health centre in Storuman, especially

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