A case study on safety measures at median openings on four-lane trunk roads in China

• This paper describes the safety improvements that were made to an 11km long section of Class-I highway in Hexian county in the province of Anhui (chainage K45 to chainage K56) and summarizes the results of tests used to evaluate the likely changes in risk. Class-I highways mainly function as arterial highways with high design speeds (e.g. 80km/h, 100km/h) but have at-grade intersections and access points (that is, they are not accessed controlled). They typically have two lanes in each direction with a median. Following the occurrence of two deaths and four injuries on the road section during a four month period, conditions on the road were examined, including conducting a ChinaRAP assessment, and improvements were rapidly made. The improvements included speed management, adjustment of median openings, installation of protected turn lanes and delineation. In the 12 months after the improvements were made, no fatal or serious crashes occurred. Evaluations also show that there have been reductions in speed, improvements in the ChinaRAP risk scores and good acceptance of the changes by the local community.

Subject headings

Engineering and Technology  (hsv)

Mechanical Engineering  (hsv)

Vehicle Engineering  (hsv)

Teknik och teknologier  (hsv)

Maskinteknik  (hsv)

Farkostteknik  (hsv)

X RSXC  (vti)

X RSXC  (vti)