TRC research evaluates how to increase the safety and resilience of transportation systems and infrastructure while seeking strategies to better address on-going maintenance needs.
Traffic Safety Toolbox - Addressing Speeds
Principal Investigators: Dana Rowangould and James Sullivan
Project Sponsor: Vermont Agency of Transportation
Reducing vehicle speeds is an important strategy for reducing the risk and severity of collisions and ensuring the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, especially in transition zones, where rural highways with higher posted speeds (typically 50 mph) enter a village or town center. This Traffic Safety Toolbox (“Toolbox”) of speeding countermeasures is intended for use by Vermont towns with posted speeds that are not widely adhered to by drivers, whether in a transition zone entering a village or town center (roads with speed limits of 35 mph and above and functional classifications of 3 or 4), or within the community itself (roads and streets with speed limits below 35 mph and functional classifications of 5 or higher), as illustrated below.
Related Publications and Reports
Effectiveness of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) at Mid-Block Crosswalks
Principal Investigators: James Sullivan and Dana Rowangould
Project Sponsor: Vermont Agency of Transportation
Ensuring the safety of pedestrians and cyclists in rural and small communities is becoming increasingly important as planners seek to encourage active travel and eliminate traffic-related injuries and fatalities, consistent with Vision Zero. One area of focus is the protection of vulnerable road users such as pedestrians, who face a significant risk of injury or death in a traffic collision. The risks to pedestrians are particularly high when crossing roadways in high-risk areas such as high-speed and low pedestrian-volume rural roads and between intersections where drivers may not expect them. One concern in rural communities is that pedestrians may face a heightened risk in rural transition zones as they approach the boundary of a city, town, or village from a higher-speed rural highway. In these settings drivers’ perceptions may lag behind their changing surroundings, and their awareness of reduced speed limits and the presence of pedestrians may be diminished.
This research addresses the need to evaluate the effectiveness of RRFBs in rural and small communities. We first review prior literature on RRFB effectiveness to synthesize research insights that provide contextspecific guidance for their use as well as gaps in this literature. To supplement this body of research, we use a rigorous observational research design to evaluate the effectiveness of RRFBs within the unique context of small and rural communities in Vermont. Our results are used to provide recommendations for updating Vermont's RRFB guidelines.
Related Publications and Reports
Pezeshknejad, P., Rowangould, D., (2024). Evaluating safety and compliance of pedestrian crossings in rural contexts: A before and after study of RRFBs and LED-embedded signs. Accident Analysis & Prevention 198, 107462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107462
Development and Application of a Cost-Benefit Tool for Quantifying External Social Impacts of Small to Mid-Size Transportation Projects
Principal Investigators: Mandar Dewoolkar, Dana Rowangould, John Lens, Greg Rowangould
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
This project will focus on developing methods for quantifying the external social costs of transportation civil infrastructure projects, particularly small to mid-size projects that are common in New England states.
Bridge-stream network assessment to identify sensitive structural, hydraulic and landscape parameters for planning flood mitigation
Principal Investigator: Mandar Dewoolkar
Co-investigators: Donna Rizzo and Arne Bomblies
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
This project will develop an analysis method to understand how localized changes at a given bridge, stream or road affect the entire river corridor. This will help transportation agencies in managing their bridge and stream assets for maintenance and capital planning for upgrades, and also address stakeholder concerns raised in response to planned alterations.
Evaluating the Contribution of Paved Surfaces to Intra-Urban Heat in Small Communities
Principal Investigator: Brittany Antończak
Project Sponsors: University of Vermont and Federal Highway Administration
This research will evaluate how paved surfaces affect surface and canopy layer air temperatures in smaller communities in Vermont and estimate population exposure to intra-urban heat caused by the presence of paved surfaces in each community type.
Evaluation of processed glass aggregate for utilization in transportation projects as a sand borrow
Principal Investigators: Mandar Dewoolkar, Matthew Scarborough, Gregory Rowangould, Eshan Ghazanfari and Ting Tan
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
The overarching goal of this project is to catalyze the use of Processed Glass Aggregate (PGA) as a substitute for increasingly scarce sand borrow material in transportation projects in Vermont, in New England, and beyond.
Development of a System-Level Distributed Sensing Technique for Long-Term Monitoring of Concrete and Composite Bridges
Principal Investigator: Tzuyang Yu
Co-investigators: Susan Faraji, Xingwei Wang, Zhu Mao, Ehsan Ghazafari and Bill Davids
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
In this project, Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (BOTDR) technique has been adopted for distributed sensing of mechanical and thermal strains of bridges.
Enhancing Intelligent Compaction with Passive Wireless Sensors
Principal Investigator: Eshan Ghazanfari
Co-investigator: Hamid Ossareh
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
In this project, the authors aim to improve the Intelligent Compaction (IC) performance and facilitate the process of geomaterial compaction and pavement performance monitoring by integration of passive sensing system with IC.
Value of VTrans Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
Principal Investigators: Jonathan Dowds & Gregory Rowangould
Project Sponsor: Vermont Agency of Transportation
The purpose of this research is to improve the Agency’s ability to assess the value of external research projects with a specific focus on developing and demonstrating a qualitative assessment strategy that can be applied to all research projects.
High Performance Concrete with Post-Tensioning Shrinking Fibers
Principal Investigator: Dryver Houston
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
This research improves upon the technique of reinforcing concrete with dispersed fibers by having the fibers axially shrink after curing to produce a dispersed multi-axial post-tensioned state. Such reinforcing has the potential to increase the crack resistance and durability of the concrete.
Intelligent Transportation Systems Professional Capacity Building
Principal Investigator: Glenn McRae
Project Sponsor: USDOT/VOLPE National Transportation Systems Center
The goal of this project is to support the development of academic resources and career pathway tools to address the emerging and future needs of the workforce to support intelligent transportation systems.
Investigating the Effectiveness of Enzymatic Stabilizers for Reclaimed Stabilized Base Projects
Principal Investigators: Ehsan Ghazanfari and Mandar Dewoolkar
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
The overarching goal of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of enzymatic stabilizers in Reclaimed Stabilized Base (RSB) projects in Vermont and the Northeast region.
Leveraging High-Resolution LiDAR and Stream Geomorphic Assessment Datasets to Expand Regional Hydraulic Geometry Curves for Vermont: A Blueprint for New England States
Principal Investigator: Kristin Underwood
Co-investigators: Arne Bomblies and Donna Rizzo
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
Regional hydraulic geometry curves for Vermont and surrounding portions of New England states will be updated through consideration of additional observations, and through application of advanced statistical techniques that leverage newly-available high-resolution LiDAR and stream geomorphic assessment data.
Measuring Adhesion Between Binders and Aggregates Using Particle Probe Scanning Force Microscopy at Low Temperatures
Principal Investigator: Ting Tan
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
This project will measure adhesion between plain binders and aggregate minerals at low temperatures, and measure adhesion between modified binders and aggregate minerals at low temperatures.
Performance Structural Concrete Optimized for Cost, Durability and Manufacturability
Principal Investigators: Dryver Huston and Ting Tan
Project Sponsor: Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center
The primary goal is to develop concrete mix designs that meet modern high-performance durability requirements while being practical to manufacture with New England-sourced materials and suppliers.
