9 Synthesis
9.6 “Hot Spots” Identified
The respondents were asked to identify perceived “Hot Spots” for rural ITS deployment aimed at improving safety. Responses included:
- Areas where road conditions vary from summer conditions to difficult winter conditions throughout the winter;
- Foggy places where the wind or heavy rain can cause problems for the traffic during the summer;
- Locations with high crash histories or chronic problems – address the worst locations first;
- Steep, long downgrades;
- Recurring heavy fog in a relatively confined area;
- Westbound I-70 at Vail Pass (Colorado);
- Westbound US 50 at Monarch Pass (Colorado);
- Highway curves with high crash concentration locations;
- Places where technology might be applied to reduce head-on, run-off-the-road, wet road and nighttime crashes;
- Remote areas where automated systems could be faster and more efficient than traditional maintenance crews, especially on bridges and other locations prone to rapidly changing conditions;
- Rural intersections on high speed roads with relatively large traffic volumes;
- Rural construction zones where capacity has been reduced;
- Bridge decks subject to freezing;
- Areas of shaded pavement that never get solar thermal warming;
- Sharp curves subject to icing; and,
- Any isolated, known high frequency incident locations.