Infrastructure

Along with enforcement and education, another key component of traffic safety is engineering. PennDOT performs numerous engineering improvements to enhance your safety along the highways.

Low-Cost Safety Improvement Program

Each year, PennDOT invests approximately $10 million in state funding to implement low-cost safety improvements throughout the state. Examples of these projects include:

Installation of centerline, edgeline and shoulder rumble strips

Rumble strips are raised or grooved patterns that differ in texture from the road surface and produce a rumbling sound and cause the vehicle to vibrate when a vehicle´s tires pass over them. The noise and vibration produced by rumble strips are effective alarms for drivers who are leaving their lane of the roadway.
The number of fatalities in head-on crashes has declined by nearly 40 percent since 2000 thanks to the installation of more than 4,600 miles of centerline rumble strips; PennDOT has dispensed more than 7,700 units since the program commenced in 2001.

Deployment of Yield to Pedestrian Channelizing Devices

To enhance pedestrian safety at intersections, PennDOT offers free Yield to Pedestrian Channelizing Devices to municipalities. The signs should be deployed to intersections with a documented pedestrian crash history or a location where pedestrians have trouble crossing because motorists fail to yield.

PennDOT has dispensed over 6,800 units since the program commenced in 2001. Research shows that motorists were 30 to 40 percent more likely to yield to pedestrians when these devices were present.

Provide warning of curve ahead

PennDOT enhances advanced curve warning through the use of pavement markings applied directly to the roadway, as well as signs indicating curve ahead.

Removal of sight distance obstructions

PennDOT will remove vegetation and objects, as well as relocate signs and other obstructions that may interfere with a motorist’s line of sight.

Removal of fixed objects along the road

PennDOT will remove trees that are too close to the road and work with utility companies to relocate utility poles that pose a risk to motorists who may leave the road.

Installation of cable median barrier

Cable median barriers (CMB) are life-saving traffic devices for use in existing medians to prevent cross-over crashes. They are one of the most effective safety measures deployed to protect motorists on highways.

Highway Safety Improvement Program

Each year, PennDOT receives between $35 and $40 million in federal funding for its Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). This funding is distributed to PennDOT’s planning regions based on the number of lane miles, vehicle miles traveled, fatalities and crashes.

The overall purpose of this program is to achieve a significant reduction in traffic fatalities and serious injuries on state roads through the implementation of medium cost infrastructure-related highway safety improvements.

As part of the HSIP, approximately $2 to $3 million is set aside for high-risk rural roads.