Major crossroads are designed to facilitate the conflicting movements of numerous vehicles in a manner that is both safe and efficient. Accesses located within the functional areas of major crossroads add complication to intersection activity. In this research, the impact of accesses on crashes within major crossroad functional areas was analyzed. The statistical analyses show that the existence of accesses within the functional areas was correlated with increased crashes and crash severity costs. In particular, an increase in commercial access density was associated with increases in crash totals, crash rates, and rear-end crashes in intersection functional areas. The analyses also showed that study site intersections meeting Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) corner clearance standards exhibited fewer right-angle crashes and lower crash severity costs. Finally, intersections that prohibited all unsignalized access had lower crash totals, crash rates, right-angle crash totals, and rear-end crash totals than intersections that allowed some unsignalized access. (Author/publisher)
Abstract