Project 4.10: Road Salt Impact Assessment

Project Summary:

The proposed study supports a project sponsored by MaineDOT, titled “Road Salt Impact Assessment.” Winter weather and maintenance treatments have significant impact on highway safety and operations. Understanding the safety impact of these factors directly influence decisions on diminishing maintenance funds, and cost-benefit analysis of alternative maintenance strategies. The proposed research will investigate the fatal, injury, and property damage only crashes to identify trends with weather and road conditions over the last 10 years in Maine. We will analyze the frequency and severity of winter lane-departure crashes in Maine, and evaluate the results over time. We also perform a statistical analysis to identify the hotspot locations. This additional research analyzes both single and multi-vehicle crashes and also considers truck crashes. Additionally, we consider all crash severities (not just fatality) in winter condition.

Sponsors:
University Transportation Centers Program
University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Vermont
University of Maine

Implementation of Research Outcomes:
This project is in its initial research phase. Implementation of Research outcomes will be reported upon completion of initial research.

Impacts and Benefits of Implementation:
This project is in its initial research phase. Impacts and benefits of the research will be reported after the implementation phase.

Related Links:
Coming Soon

Downloadable Documents