To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Ryan Germeroth, P.E., Transportation Planning and Traffic Engineering Manager
Title
Discussion: 2015 Town of Castle Rock Motor Vehicle Crash Facts
Body
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Executive Summary
Each year the Public Works Department produces an annual crash report that is used to help identify needed safety improvements and trends in driver behavior. This is only one element of the Department’s efforts to identify and correct problems on our street network. Other activities include an annual traffic signal warrant study to identify intersections needing to be signalized, the neighborhood traffic calming program and our ongoing collection of traffic volume and vehicle speed information.
The 2015 report is included (Attachment A). Since 2005, our population and the total number of crashes has increased by over 50%. The number of crashes that occurred in 2015 was 211 more than the 2014 total, an increase of about 30%. This is a much larger increase than what would be expected based on historical trends. The three crash types that account for this increase are rear end, angle and sideswipe collisions. These types of crashes are generally related to traffic congestion but it is likely that a fair portion of these additional crashes are associated with the work zone for the roadway reconstruction project that took place on Founders Parkway in 2015. We will continue to monitor the annual results to see if this is the start of an upward trend in our crashes or just a one year “spike” in the numbers due to the construction project. However, it is worth noting, that as traffic volumes increase in the Town it is likely that an increase in vehicle collisions will follow.
The findings of the 2015 report were presented to the Public Works Commission on July 11, 2016. Other than a few minor editorial changes, no content changes were made to the report as a result of that meeting.
Staff Recommendation
There is not a formal recommendation on this item as it is for informational and feedback purposes. Staff will give a brief presentation at the Council meeting and will be available to answer any questions
Attachments
Staff Report
Attachment A: 2015 Motor Vehicle Crash Facts