Traffic Safety Engineering
Traffic and road-safety measures play an important role in reducing injuries and fatalities resulting from collisions. By ongoing review of various collision and traffic datasets, various countermeasures are identified to improve safety on Edmonton streets.
Left Turn Signal Phase Improvements
Improving left-turn signal timing can help reduce potential conflicts. When left-turning drivers are given a “permissive” phase, they must yield to oncoming traffic and find an opportunity to make a left turn as traffic allows. A “protected” phase gives left turning drivers the chance to make the maneuver without conflicting vehicles or road users in the intersection. Providing a protected left-turn phase can reduce collisions by up to 99% of left turning collisions. There has been a steady decline in the number of left turn across path collisions as more intersections have been improved in the City of Edmonton. There have been 55 locations with signal phase improvements since 2009 with an additional 15 planned for 2016.
Traffic Signal Visibility
The visibility of traffic signals can be improved by installing new backboards around signal heads, adding retroreflective tape to backboards, or installing additional signal heads. Making traffic signals more conspicuous can help reduce collisions in situations where drivers have had difficulty clearly seeing the traffic signals. Collisions can be reduced by a range of 7% to 15% or greater following visibility upgrades. There are signal visibility upgrades planned for nine locations in 2016.
Right Turn Channel Upgrades
Providing channelized right-turn lanes increases the capacity at an intersection. In order to reduce the number of rear-end collisions on these on ramps, upgrades can be made to the design of existing right turn channels. Factors such as traffic volumes, pedestrian volumes, truck volumes, sight lines and turning radius are all considered in the upgrade of right-turn channels. Overall there has been a 75% reduction in collisions at upgraded sites.
Schools Reviewed by Video Analytics
Traffic safety at schools is being reviewed using sophisticated video-analytics technique. Video analysis allows engineers to review the interactions between road users and identify potential conflict areas. By using video analysis, potential problems can be identified before they become collisions. When issues are identified engineers can choose specific countermeasures that are tailored to the concerns at each school. Thirteen schools have been reviewed since January and 24 schools will be reviewed in 2017.
The 13 schools reviewed in 2016 were:
- Ward 1: Youngstown School
- Ward 2: Elizabeth Finch School
- Ward 3: Dunluce Shcool
- Ward 4: Edmonton Christian Northeast School
- Ward 5: Bessie Nichols School
- Ward 6: Edmonton Christian West School
- Ward 7: St. Matthew School
- Ward 8: Mckernan School
- Ward 9: Johnny Bright School
- Ward 10: West Brook School, Mount Pleasant School
- Ward 11: Greenview School
- Ward 12: Michael Strembitsky School
For More Information
The Office of Traffic Safety
Suite 200
9304 – 41 Ave.
Edmonton, AB T6E 6G8
| Telephone | 780-495-0371 |
|---|---|
| Fax | 780-495-0383 |
| transportationoperations@edmonton.ca |
