Potential MUTCD Criteria for Selecting the Type of Control for Unsignalized Intersections (2015)

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CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... iv  LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... vi  AUTHOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................................................................... viii  ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ix  SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................... 1  INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1  RESEARCH ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................................... 1  Review of Policies and Guidelines ......................................................................................... 1  Literature Review .................................................................................................................... 2  Critical Review of MUTCD .................................................................................................... 2  Economic Analysis Procedure ................................................................................................ 2  Potential Criteria ..................................................................................................................... 3  RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................ 3  Use of Findings from Economic Analysis .............................................................................. 3  Recommended Language for Next Edition of the MUTCD ................................................... 3  CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 4  RESEARCH PROBLEM STATEMENT ................................................................................... 4  RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ....................................................................................................... 4  RESEARCH APPROACH ......................................................................................................... 4  REPORT STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................. 5  CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF POLICIES AND GUIDELINES................................................ 6  BACKGROUND ........................................................................................................................ 6  MANUAL ON UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES ....................................................... 6  2009 MUTCD Sections 2B.04 to 2B.09 ................................................................................. 6  History of Existing MUTCD Sections 2B.04 through 2B.09 ................................................. 6  Right of Way at Intersections ........................................................................................... 6  STOP Sign Applications ................................................................................................... 7  Four-way or Multi-way STOP Signs ................................................................................ 8  YIELD Sign Applications ................................................................................................ 9  Potential Change to MUTCD ................................................................................................ 10  REVIEW OF STATE AND LOCAL DOCUMENTS ............................................................... 12  State Guidance in Addition to MUTCD ............................................................................... 13  STOP Sign ...................................................................................................................... 13  YIELD Sign .................................................................................................................... 15  Convert STOP to YIELD Sign ....................................................................................... 15  Intersection Control Evaluation Processes ............................................................................ 16  Minnesota ....................................................................................................................... 16  Washington ..................................................................................................................... 17  i

Wisconsin ....................................................................................................................... 18  OUTREACH TO PRACTITIONERS ....................................................................................... 20  CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................. 22  BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................... 22  SUMMARY OF KEY REFERENCE DOCUMENTS .............................................................. 22  2010 Highway Capacity Manual .......................................................................................... 22  2000 Highway Capacity Manual .......................................................................................... 22  2010 Highway Safety Manual ............................................................................................... 23  Crash Prediction ............................................................................................................. 23  Crash Modification Factor .............................................................................................. 25  FHWA Crash Modification Factor Clearinghouse ............................................................... 25  ITE Manual of Traffic Engineering Studies .......................................................................... 27  SELECTING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE FOR UNSIGNALIZED INTERSECTION .... 27  Safety Studies ........................................................................................................................ 27  Capacity and Volume Studies ............................................................................................... 31  SELECTING TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES FOR UNSIGNALIZED PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS............................................................................................................................. 39  2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices ............................................................... 39  NCHRP Report 562/TCRP Report 112 ................................................................................ 39  City of Tucson ....................................................................................................................... 40  City of Phoenix ..................................................................................................................... 41  Arizona Department of Transportation ................................................................................. 41  City of Boulder ..................................................................................................................... 42  Virginia Department of Transportation................................................................................. 43  Washington County, Oregon ................................................................................................ 44  Texas Department of Transportation .................................................................................... 44  CHAPTER 4: INTERSECTION AND TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS .......................... 46  BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................... 46  FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................ 46  CHAPTER 5: CRITICAL REVIEW ........................................................................................ 51  REVIEW OF MUTCD .............................................................................................................. 51  IDENTIFY INTERSECTION AND TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS ................................... 54  SUGGESTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 55  QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 55  DIRECTION FOR PHASE II ................................................................................................... 56  CHAPTER 6: ECONOMIC ANALYSIS.................................................................................. 57  INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 57  SELECTION OF TYPE OF COSTS TO CONSIDER IN ANALYSIS .................................... 57  SIMULATION .......................................................................................................................... 59  Base Models .......................................................................................................................... 59  Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 60  Modeling Runs ...................................................................................................................... 61  Findings from Simulation ..................................................................................................... 61  ii

COSTS ...................................................................................................................................... 65  User Delay Costs ................................................................................................................... 65  Delay for Entire Year ..................................................................................................... 66  Travel Time Delay Cost ................................................................................................. 67  Crash Costs ........................................................................................................................... 67  Crash Prediction ............................................................................................................. 67  Crash Modification Factor .............................................................................................. 70  2013 Value of a Statistical Life by Crash Severity ........................................................ 71  Typical Crash Cost for Unsignalized Intersections ........................................................ 72  Vehicle Operating Costs ....................................................................................................... 78  Roundabout Construction Costs ........................................................................................... 79  Total Costs ............................................................................................................................ 79  TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON COST ................................................. 80  Four-Lane Major Road ......................................................................................................... 80  Two-Lane Major Road .......................................................................................................... 84  Discussion Regarding Use of Speed and Number of Legs ................................................... 87  CHAPTER 7: OVERVIEW, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................. 88  OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 88  Review of Policies and Guidelines ....................................................................................... 88  Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 88  Critical Review of MUTCD .................................................................................................. 89  Economic Analysis Procedure .............................................................................................. 89  Potential Criteria ................................................................................................................... 90  CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................... 92  Caution Regarding Warrants ................................................................................................. 92  Use of Findings from Economic Analysis ............................................................................ 92  Use of Findings from Traffic Simulation .............................................................................. 93  RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 94  Suggested Language for Next Edition of MUTCD .............................................................. 94  Future Research Needs ......................................................................................................... 94  APPENDIX: POTENTIAL MUTCD REVISIONS ................................................................. 96  INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 96  FORMATTING USED WITH REVISIONS ............................................................................ 96  Recommended Language ...................................................................................................... 96  Existing Language ................................................................................................................ 96  RECOMMENDED LANGUAGE FOR THE MUTCD ............................................................ 97  EXISTING MUTCD (2009) LANGUAGE ............................................................................ 104  REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 109  iii

LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Level of Guidance on Selecting Traffic Control Device for Unsignalized Intersections Available in (Online) State Manuals. ..................................................... 13  Table 2. States Not Included in Table 1. ....................................................................................... 13  Table 3. Maryland MUTCD Table 2B-1a: Guidelines for Conversion from Stop to Yield Control (10). ................................................................................................................. 16  Table 4. Potential Intersection Control by ADT Volume (Table 1 in 16) .................................... 17  Table 5. City of Janesville, Wisconsin, Criteria (21) for Installation of Traffic Control Devices, Dated August 1977. ....................................................................................... 21  Table 6. Highway Safety Manual (24) Table 14-5. Potential Crash Effects of Converting Minor-Road Stop Control into AWSC. ........................................................................ 25  Table 7. Crash Modification Factors from Clearinghouse (29). ................................................... 26  Table 8. LOS for Two-Way Stop-Controlled Intersections Developed Using Simulation (48). .............................................................................................................................. 31  Table 9. Recommended Crash Numbers from Bonneson et al. (49). ........................................... 31  Table 10. Criteria for Various Traffic Control (Table 1 in 51). .................................................... 32  Table 11. Candidate Control for Minor-Road Approach by Box (52). ........................................ 33  Table 12. Arizona DOT PHB Evaluation Draft Guidelines (65). ................................................. 42  Table 13. Boulder, Colorado, Minimum Pedestrian Volume Thresholds (66). ............................ 43  Table 14. Washington County, Oregon, Tiered Midblock Crossing Treatments (68). ................ 44  Table 15. Minimum Data Increments for Variables Used to Evaluate the Need of AWSC at Unsignalized Intersections. ...................................................................................... 47  Table 16. Minimum Data Increments for Variables Used to Evaluate the Type of Traffic Control at Unsignalized Intersections. ......................................................................... 47  Table 17. Minimum Data Increments for Variables Used to Evaluate the Need for a Pedestrian Traffic Control Treatment at an Unsignalized Intersection. ....................... 48  Table 18. Summary of Existing Techniques That May Be of Interest for Phase II. ..................... 49  Table 19. Intersection and Traffic Characteristics Considered for Each Technique. ................... 50  Table 20. Opening Text and Criteria for MUTCD Sections with Numeric Criteria. ................... 52  Table 21. Sight Distance and Crash Criteria for MUTCD Sections with Numeric Criteria. ........ 53  Table 22. Suggested Considerations to Install a STOP Sign. ....................................................... 53  Table 23. Costs Suggested for Evaluating Changes to Intersections from Several Sources. ....... 58  Table 24. Non-changing Simulation Variable Values. ................................................................. 60  Table 25. Changing Simulation Variable Values. ........................................................................ 60  Table 26. Major and Minor Approach Volume Pairs. .................................................................. 60  Table 27. Simulation Results Illustrating Variation Due to Speed Limit. .................................... 61  Table 28. Volume Combinations Used in VISSIM Resulting in More Than 35 sec or 60 sec of Minor-Road Average Vehicle Delay during the Simulated Hour. ............... 64  Table 29. Example of Delay by User. ........................................................................................... 66  Table 30. Factors Used to Convert Seconds/Vehicle Delay to Hour/Intersection Delay for a Year. .......................................................................................................................... 66  Table 31. National Congestion Constants Used in the 2012 Urban Mobility Report (78).a ......... 67  Table 32. Safety Performance Functions for Rural Highways for Total Crashes. ....................... 68  iv

Table 33. Safety Performance Functions for Urban and Suburban Arterial Intersections for Total Crashes. ......................................................................................................... 68  Table 34. Definitions for Variables in Table 33. .......................................................................... 69  Table 35. Minimum and Maximum AADT for HSM Equations.................................................. 69  Table 36. CMFs Considered for This Analysis. ........................................................................... 71  Table 37. 2013 Comprehensive Societal Cost Estimates (2013 Dollars). .................................... 72  Table 38. Default Distribution of Crash Severity Level at Rural Two-Lane Two-Way Intersections from the HSM (24). ................................................................................ 72  Table 39. Injuries or Deaths per Crash for Rural Two-Way or One-Way Stop Control Intersections. ................................................................................................................ 73  Table 40. Crashes in Database by City and Year. ......................................................................... 74  Table 41. Crashes per Intersection for Cities in the Database. ..................................................... 75  Table 42. Distribution of Crash Severity Level at Urban and Suburban Unsignalized Intersections in Database (Posted Speed Limit ≤ 40 mph). ......................................... 75  Table 43. Injuries or Fatalities per Crash for Crashes in Database. .............................................. 76  Table 44. Number of Persons per Crash for Crashes in Database. ............................................... 76  Table 45. Crash Cost Calculations for Urban 2W Intersections. .................................................. 77  Table 46. Calculated Crash Costs for Intersection Scenarios. ...................................................... 78  Table 47. Fuel Consumption (Gallons) per Minute of Delay by Vehicle Type (Table 5-6 in 73). ........................................................................................................................... 79  Table 48. Summary of Costs for an Example Where the Peak Hour Is 300 veh/hr/Approach on the Major Road and 200 veh/hr/Approach on the Minor Road. ............................................................................................................................ 80  Table 49. Potential Criteria for AWSC. ........................................................................................ 90  Table 50. Potential Criteria for No Control, Yield Control, or Minor-Road Stop Control. ......... 91  Table 51. Recommended Criteria for Unsignalized Intersection Control. ................................... 95  1 v

LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. The Minnesota Intersection Control Evaluation Process (16). ...................................... 17  Figure 2. Countermeasure Matrix for TWSC Expressway Intersection (Figure 1.1b from 17) ........................................................................................................................ 19  Figure 3. Intersection Control Type and Peak-Hour Volumes (Exhibit 10-15 in 28). ................. 24  Figure 4. Optimal Intersection Control Based on LOS (Figure 1 in 54). ..................................... 33  Figure 5. Optimal Intersection Control Based on Average Delay (5-sec Significance Level) (Figure 2 in 54). ................................................................................................ 34  Figure 6. Optimal Intersection Control Based on Average Queue Length (Figure 3 in 54). ........ 34  Figure 7. Major Street–Minor Street Volume Relationship for a Two-Lane Major Street and a One-Lane Minor Street (Figure 6 in 55). ............................................................ 35  Figure 8. Comparison of Control Type with HCM 2000 Exhibit 10-15, with 10 Percent Left Turns (Figure 7 in 56). ......................................................................................... 36  Figure 9. Intersection Control Type and Peak-Hour Volumes with 10 Percent Left- Turning Traffic (57). .................................................................................................... 37  Figure 10. Acceptable Operating Conditions at Unsignalized Intersections (53). ....................... 37  Figure 11. 2009 MUTCD Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon Guidance Figure. ...................................... 39  Figure 12. Guidelines Plot, 34-ft Pavement, ≤ 35 mph, 3.5 ft/sec Walking Speed (22). .............. 40  Figure 13. City of Boulder Pedestrian Crossing Treatment Installation Guidelines prepared by Fox, Tuttle, Hernandez (67). .................................................................... 43  Figure 14. Car Delay Results. ....................................................................................................... 62  Figure 15. Pedestrian Delay Results. ............................................................................................ 63  Figure 16. Illustration of Predicted Crash Frequency Using HSM Equations. ............................. 70  Figure 17. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Three-Leg Urban Intersection on a Four-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 82  Figure 18. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Four-Leg Urban Intersection on a Four-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 82  Figure 19. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Three-Leg Rural Intersection on a Four-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 83  Figure 20. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Four-Leg Rural Intersection on a Four-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 83  Figure 21. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Three-Leg Urban Intersection on a Two-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. .................................................... 85  vi

Figure 22. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for Four-Leg Urban Intersection on a Two-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 85  Figure 23. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Three-Leg Rural Intersection on a Two-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 86  Figure 24. Recommended Unsignalized Intersection Traffic Control Based on Costs for a Four-Leg Rural Intersection on a Two-Lane Major Road; Also Shown Is the 2009 Peak-Hour Signal Warrant for When There Are Two or More Lanes on the Major Road and One Lane on the Minor Road. ..................................................... 86  vii