The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has placed improving safety as one of its top objectives. Improving safety in rural intersections is a means to improve roadway safety especially in rural districts such as the districts in West Texas. The Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) in consultation with TxDOT engineers developed a low-cost system that can be configured with off the shelf components and can be installed fairly easily. The system uses wireless sensors to complete contact closures in a cabinet that was built by TTI researchers to activate beacons on the Stop sign and Stop Ahead sign when a vehicle is arriving on a stop-controlled approach. The system also would keep the beacons on the Stop sign flashing till the vehicle at the Stop Bar leaves the intersection. The system was demonstrated at the Pecos Test Track. A TxDOT expert panel reviewed the system both during daytime and night-time. The expert panel was overall supportive of the system, made some recommendations for improving the system, and was interested in implementing the system in their districts. The system was implemented at an intersection near Pecos. Based on panel’s recommendation a system that would activate the beacons on the Stop sign if vehicle speed is above a user defined threshold was also designed, implemented, and demonstrated to the district engineers. (Author/publisher)
Abstract