To: Members of the Public Works Commission
From: Jacob Vargish, P.E., Transportation Planning and Traffic Engineering Manager
Title
Informational - 2020 Town of Castle Rock Motor Vehicle Crash Facts
Body
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Executive Summary
Safety on the Town’s roadways is a key value our stakeholders seek from this infrastructure asset. Every other year the Public Works Department produces a 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, site specific engineering evaluations, and our ongoing collection of traffic volume and vehicle speed information.
Crashes are the result of many factors. These factors can generally be classified into three main categories: 1) human factors, 2) vehicle factors, and 3) roadway environment. By far, the largest percentage of crashes can be attributed to human factors. Education, Enforcement and Engineering, the three “E’s”, all play an important role in improving safety. Engineering solutions alone cannot eliminate all crashes. Public Works uses statistical modeling to identify the locations where corrections to the roadway environment may improve safety. This helps direct limited resources to the locations where the most benefit can be obtained and avoids directing these resources toward locations where problems may not exist.
The 2020 report is attached (Attachment A). Since 2005, our population has doubled and the total number of crashes has increased by about 50%. The number of crashes that have occurred since 2017 has decreased each year through 2020. As traffic volumes increase in the Town it is likely that an increase in vehicle collisions will follow. The good news is that in the last few years this has not been the case, and the number of injury crashes has also decreased in a similar manner. It is worth noting, from March 2020 to about May 2021 the global, COVID-19 pandemic, included stay at home orders that reduced the number of vehicle trips on Town roadways and is likely a reason for the 10% drop in the number of crashes that year.
Notification and Outreach Efforts
The Public Works Department compiles this information using crash reports and a crash database maintained by CDOT that occur in the Town of Castle Rock’s jurisdiction from the Castle Rock Police Department and Colorado State Patrol. This report will be shared with the Police and Fire Departments in order to provide each with data that may be useful to improving their operations, in addition to our partners at CDOT. This report will be available to the public through posting on the Town’s website: www.crgov.com <http://www.crgov.com/>.
History of Past Town Council, Boards & Commissions, or Other Discussions
Public Works uses statistical modeling to identify the locations where corrections to the roadway environment may improve safety. This helps direct finite resources to the locations where the most benefit may be obtained, and avoids directing these resources to locations where things are actually performing better than should be expected. The Town’s findings are consistently passed along to the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), and CDOT will often use our information in scheduling more in- depth studies, and in planning improvements.
In previous years our data helped us identify crash patterns that we were able to address through the use of traffic signal timing or phasing modifications as well as changes in traffic control (i.e. two-way stop to all-way stop) for unsignalized intersections.
Discussion
Unfortunately, even on the best designed streets and under the best conditions, traffic crashes happen. Driver behavior, vehicle condition, and the roadway environment all contribute to this. The studies that we conduct are designed to identify trends, and the intersections where crashes are occurring at a rate that is higher than expected.
Through staff’s statistical review of the signalized intersections having the highest crash rates, there are a few locations with a higher than expected number of crashes as shown in the following table.
Expected Crash Observed Crash Level of Safety
Intersection History (Crashes History (Crashes Service of Performance
/ Year) / Year) Safety
Allen Wy @ Sh-85 High Potential
(Founders) Pkwy) 14.55 29.1 4 For reduction
Factory Shops Blvd
Castleton Dr. @ US-85 18.67 26.2 4 High Potential
(Meadows Pkwy) For reduction
Sh-86 (Founders Pkwy) @ 12.2 22.8 4 High Potential
Front St. For reduction
Hwy 85 @ US-85
(Meadows Pkwy) 11.78 20.6 4 High potential
for reduction
Perry St S @ Plum Creek
Pkwy 8.9 14.8 4 High Potential
for reduction
Plum Creek Pkwy @
Wilcox 9.99 14.2 4 High Potential
for reduction
Factory Shops Blvd @
New Memphis Ct 9.45 12.9 4 High Potential
for reduction
Meadows Blvd @
Meadows Pkwy 8.9 11.8 4 High Potential
for reduction
Meadows Pkwy @
Limelight 8.01 11.6 4 High Potential
for reduction
Crowfoot Valley Rd @
Founders Pkwy 4.8 10.9 4 High Potential
for reduction
I-25 Nb On Ramp/I-25 Nb
Off Ramp @ Plum Creek 15.74 8.9 4 High Potential
Pkwy for reduction
Fifth St @ Wilcox St N 4.99 7.9 4 High Potential
for reduction
Fifth St @ Perry St N 4.39 7.0 4 High Potential
for reduction
Black Pine Dr/Copper
Cloud Dr @ Founders 4.16 5.6 4 High Potential
Pkwy for reduction
Wilcox St N @
Wolfensberger Rd 5.34 8.4 ¾ High Potential
for reduction
Founders Pkwy @ Trail
Boss Dr 8.76 9.2 3 Worse Than
expected
Butterfield Crossing Dr @
Meadows Dr N 5.07 5.3 3 Worse Than
expected
We have reviewed crash types and frequency for each intersection to determine if any reoccurring operational problems can be identified that may be contributing to the crashes. Specifically we looked to see if any of these issues could be related to the existing roadway environment which we can control, like signal timing and phasing, traffic signing, pavement markings or any other geometric characteristics. Driver behavior and vehicle condition also contribute to crashes which are less under our control. A set of recommendations are provided in the Annual Crash Report on pages 11, 12, and 14.
Using the recommendations and planned mitigation measures as a guide, staff will next create a priority task list for implementation. This will include coordinating the mitigations with CDOT at their intersections, performing a detailed analysis of crash by crash information to ensure the right modifications are implemented, and creating larger safety projects as needed. Follow up evaluations and monitoring of safety performance will continue on Town roadways and intersections.
Budget Impact
This report does not have any impact to the current budget at this time. Each year the traffic division sets aside funding for safety related projects to address issues that have a higher potential for crash reduction.
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 Commission meeting and will be available to answer any questions.
Attachments
Attachment A: 2020 Town of Castle Rock Motor Vehicle Crash Facts