Iowa Statewide Urban Design and Specifications

About the research

The reduction of severe injury and fatal vehicle crashes within the US requires the involvement of transportation professionals from local, state, and federal agencies. Therefore, a need exists to
increase the transportation safety knowledge base at all levels of government. However, the majority of the roadway miles in the US are under local government jurisdiction.

While the wide range of safety knowledge within these local agencies is generally recognized, in many cases, safety is just one of many areas of responsibility for transportation staff within local roadway agencies. Furthermore, rural road maintenance plays a role in safety for roadway users who travel regularly on our secondary roadways.

This project is in response to a proposal that the compilation and summary of information useful to the development of a rural road safety recognition program for local maintenance personnel would be of value to local agency professional development entities (e.g., Local and Tribal Technical Assistance Programs [LTAPs and TTAPs], local road agencies, and state Departments of
Transportation [DOTs]). This information might include the identification of roadway safety learning objectives and subject areas that could be included within a curriculum of instruction, courses that are currently available, and a process of recognition for local maintenance personnel who complete this curriculum.

The implementation of this type of program for local agency maintenance personnel should encourage a greater safety culture and hopefully help lead to severe injury and fatal vehicle crash reductions along rural roadways within the US.

This report provides a summary of information for those considering the implementation of roadway safety curriculum and/or recognition programs for local agency maintenance personnel.