It’s easy to fall into the trap of focusing too heavily on issues that are most frequently associated with urban areas. That’s where a significant portion of the population resides, and it’s where a lot of policy debates often take place. But like so many things, context matters—and the rural (and even sometimes exurban) environment
is frankly where more lane miles exist. And, unfortunately, where fatality rates are significantly higher when analyzing roadway safety. Assuming you read our International President’s column on the preceding pages of the Journal (if not please go back and read it!), she did an excellent job highlighting the challenges. I totally agree with her premise that we need to “give rural roads the attention they deserve.”
As we continue the implementation of ITE’s Safety Roadmap and Action Plan, my first message in this month’s column is, naturally, focused on rural roadway safety. There
are safety challenges that cut across both rural and urban settings. How we counter the challenges might differ by circumstances, but recognizing that we must counter them is the most important tenet of our profession. Remember: changing the culture to prioritize roadway safety is a core objective of ITE’s current Strategic Plan. Karen mentioned the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant program in her column and pointed out the challenges that many smaller agencies face when trying to
apply, win, and/or utilize those federal funds. Regardless of whether you participate in the SS4A program, you can emphasize safety in both planning and engineering activities.
From a planning perspective, the development of a local road safety plan is a good practice to pursue (it’s also eligible for SS4A planning grants, and a requirement of more
advanced SS4A deployment funds). Regardless of funding source, doing a plan presents the opportunity to engage stakeholders, use a data-driven approach, and develop a resulting list of issues, risks, actions, and improvements tailored and prioritized to your specific environment and road network.
From an engineering perspective, there are so many potential solutions to the challenges you might face in your municipality. If you aren’t familiar with FHWA’s proven
safety countermeasures, now would be a good time to brush up.
My second message in this column is to recognize the heroes among our membership. We salute our rural transportation planners, traffic engineers, and operations specialists that work for smaller and often rural municipalities. They are regularly asked to juggle multiple duties on small budgets and with impossible expectations. Many are unable to focus on just one task and must spread themselves dangerously thin on a daily basis. And we applaud the vendors and consultants that support them, often helping to manage these challenging situations because they want to help make the world a better place—not because they’re making any kind of huge profit
margin due to overhead caps and fee restrictions of smaller agencies.
I look forward to seeing many of you in Orlando next month where we’ll have an entire track of sessions dedicated to rural transportation issues at our Joint ITE
International and Florida Puerto Rico District Annual Meeting. Because the importance of this topic transcends far beyond a single issue of the Journal—and is reflected in many of our ongoing activities!