Data-driven high friction surface treatment applications for roadway safety
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/pyos8802Abstract
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) has been utilizing a data-driven high friction surface treatment (HFST) program as a proven safety countermeasure for wet weather and roadway departure crashes. This report will walk through the origins of the study and the process to identify candidate locations for HFST and development of a pavement friction program. The project has constructed over forty sites in 2023, including a mixture of rural corridor curves, signalized intersection approaches, and limited access freeway ramps. The project utilized a mixture of pavement friction data, pavement resurfacing lists, and specific crash data. The sites are being reviewed to show the benefits through a before and after crash analysis and pavement condition over time based on traffic volumes, weather, and other factors.
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Author Biographies
Austin Obenauf, WSP, the United States of America
Austin Obenauf is a ‘People First’ Professional Engineer at WSP who graduated with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky. He has experience working on transportation safety, planning, and traffic operations projects throughout his career. Austin's skillset includes data analysis and confirmation for effective traffic safety and operational solutions which was used for this project. As of 2024, Austin leads the WSP traffic and safety team in Kentucky.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing.
Mike Vaughn, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the United States of America
Mike Vaughn is a professional engineer at KYTC who graduated with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky. Mike is the Traffic Safety Branch Manager for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in the Division of Traffic Operations. Mike leads a team of engineers who administer the Highway Safety Improvement Plan (HSIP) for Kentucky and represents KYTC on the Pavement Surface Properties Pool Fund Study and AASHTO Committee on Safety.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing—review & editing.
Ryland Potter, WDM, the United States of America
Ryland Potter is a vice president at WDM USA. A Fulbright Scholar with more than 15 years’ experience as an international consultant to corporate, non-profit, and government organizations, Ryland has held senior roles advising corporate strategy and market entry with Accenture, the United Nations, and Hanover Research in Washington, DC. While a Managing Director with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, she played an instrumental part in persuading WDM USA to set up its US subsidiary in Virginia – the Best State for Business. She holds a business degree from Case Western Reserve University and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Texas.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Software, Supervision, Visualization, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing.
Isaac Briskin, WDM, the United States of America
Isaac Briskin has a background in medical statistics and a profound love for problem-solving. After completing an undergraduate degree in statistics and a Master of Arts in Applied Statistics from the University of Pittsburgh, he joined the Cleveland Clinic as a statistician. He worked primarily in orthopedic research, as well as across other departments, and co-authored over 20 publications. A stint with analgesic pain medication clinical trials followed, but always looking for new challenges, Isaac made his way to WDM USA, where he looks forward to applying his background studies, skills and interests to solving road safety issues.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Software, Validation, Visualization.
References
Brimley, B., P. Carlson (2012), 'Using high friction surface treatments to improve safety at horizontal curves', Texas Transportation Institute, TTI-2012-8.
Gayah, V., E. T. Donnell, P. Zhang (2024), 'Crash modification factors for high friction surface treatment on horizontal curves of two-lane highways: A combined propensity scores matching and empirical Bayes before-after approach', Accident Analysis & Prevention, 199, 107536. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2024.107536
Green, E., P. Ross (2021), 'Crash data analysis tool 2.0: Research report and user guide', Kentucky Transportation Center, KTC-21-21/SPR21-5602-1F.
Harmon, T., G. Bahar, F. Gross (2018), 'Crash costs for highway safety analysis', Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-SA-17-071.
Merritt, D., C. Lyon, B. Persaud, H. Torres (2020), 'Developing crash-modification factors for high-friction surface treatments', Federal Highway Administration, FHWA-HRT-20-061.
SCRIM, (2024), 'Sideway-force Coefficient Routine Investigation Machine', WDM.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Austin Obenauf, Mike Vaughn, Ryland Potter, Isaac Briskin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
