True Team Effort Sustains Successful Safe Corridor Program in Washington State

Maintaining vehicle and pedestrian safety is a major public challenge but moving promising safety initiatives from the planning room into actual practice has also proven to be a daunting task for safety experts.  

Because of this, many states are considering the Safety Corridor concept as a way to help reduce crash and fatality rates in identifiable problem areas. Washington is one such state. What makes Washington State’s effort unique is a high level of integration of all safety interests throughout the entire process. Citizen and business groups, law enforcement, engineering, education and medical service safety professionals all play an equal role in the planning, development and construction process. Most importantly, the involvement of these interested parties is an important aspect for sustaining the effort over the long-term. Here’s just a sample of the results of these integrated safety efforts, total collisions were reduced by 5%, total injuries were reduced by 11%, alcohol-related collisions were reduced by 15% and, fatal and disabling injury collisions reduced by 34%. Not only have federal and state agencies bought into the concept but the state has also been able to get local communities involved in their Corridor Safety Program (CSP).

Safety professionals are invited to participate in a Product Demonstration Showcase (PDS) of the Washington State DOT process, August 23 & 24, 2007 in Vancouver, WA. The Showcase (see information below) is co-hosted by the City of Vancouver, WA, WSDOT and the Federal Highway Administration’s Washington state and Utah state Local Technical Assistance Programs (LTAP). The Showcase will cover all aspects of the process that was used to bring the Safety Corridor Program to life. Including how all the parties were approached, the challenges they faced and how participation, planning, design and jurisdictional obstacles were overcome. Each partner will speak to their role and responsibilities. First, presentations will be covered in an interactive classroom format. Then Showcase participants, accompanied by a docent, will visit three real-time field sites including a 16 mile rural safety corridor along the Columbia River to experience original conditions and resulting solutions. This will be a two-way information sharing experience since participants may have solutions that WSDOT could consider.   

If you’re serious about traffic safety don’t miss this unique well-rounded learning experience. Decision-makers cannot afford to miss this opportunity. CEU and PDH credits are available for this Showcase.

Registration is $99.00 for the two day event and includes all handout materials, site visit transportation and dinner Thursday evening.

For those requiring overnight accommodations, a group room block has been arranged at the Hilton Vancouver Washington in Vancouver, WA for $101.00 per night for single occupancy. You may contact the hotel direct at: 360.993.4500. Please mention the Corridor Safety Showcase to receive this rate.  Rooms will be held until July 22, 2007.

To register, or for more information please visit www.utahltap.org or call Keri Shoemaker at the Utah LTAP Center 435.797.2931 or Mathew Enders at the Washington LTAP Center 360.705.6907.