Congratulations to Andrew Tarko, Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering and Director of the Center for Road Safety (CRS), recognized with an honorable mention by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) for high value research conducted with the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) on suburban arterial safety performance.

This study addresses safety conflicts on suburban arterial roads by evaluating three design options: undivided roadways, two-way left-turn lanes, and non-traversable medians. By analyzing traffic and crash data across 200 Indiana road segments, the researchers used simultaneous equations to account for the complex, reciprocal relationship between speed limits and driver crash risk. The findings show that traffic volume, speed limits, access point density, and median types significantly impact safety performance and overall crash costs. Ultimately, the study delivers a practical, crash-cost-oriented decision framework to help traffic engineers economically select the safest median treatment for specific road conditions.

Full details of the project are viewable at https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/jtrp/1888/.