U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2013 CONTACT: Cathy Gillen |
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(Washington, DC) — at an awards ceremony on Capitol Hill, the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today recognized the Cornell University Local Roads Program for developing inspection kits to improve rural sign safety.
In 2009, new standards were set for sign retroreflectivity, requiring assessment of current signs to determine if they meet the new standards. In 2011, a Cornell University student intern named Lawrence (Larry) Lin was hired to work with three County Highway Departments in western New York to determine how to best share a single retroreflectometer.
A result of the strong collaboration between the County Highway Departments, the student Intern Larry Lin, and the engineers of the Local Roads Program was an inexpensive sign inspection kit using clear overhead projector sheets that cost less than $50 each in materials. The kit can be used to quickly confirm the level of retroreflectivity of signs in the field. For example, sign technicians in Wyoming County, NY were able to inspect all of their signs in only three nights with this kit.
"Cornell Local Roads Program and a remarkable student intern named Larry Lin took a daunting task for counties in New York State and made it both manageable and affordable," said Gregory M. Cohen, P.E., Executive Director of the Roadway Safety Foundation. "Their well thought out solution turned out to be a simple one, which we hope to see replicated."
"This project is a great example of innovation and the power of collaboration where different viewpoints lead a solution better than any single organization or person would have developed on their own," said Dr. David Orr, PE, Senior Engineer with the Program.
National Roadway Safety Award recipients were evaluated on three criteria – innovation, effectiveness, and efficient use of resources. Program categories included infrastructure improvements, operational improvements, and program planning, development, and evaluation.
Blue Ribbon Panel Judges included: Philip J. Caruso, Deputy Executive Director for Technical Programs, Institute of Transportation Engineers; Gregory M. Cohen, P.E., Executive Director, Roadway Safety Foundation; William A. Crank, Senior Community Relations Manager, Michelin North America; Anthony Giancola, P.E., Consultant, formerly of the National Association of County Engineers; Michael Griffith, Director, FHWA Office of Safety Technologies; Tony Kane, Consultant, formerly of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and Richard Pain, Transportation Safety Coordinator, Transportation Research Board.
Roadway safety programs are a critical part of the nation's solutions to saving lives and preventing injuries on our nation's highways. There were 32,367 people killed in traffic crashes on U.S. roads in 2011.
The Federal Highway Administration and the Roadway Safety Foundation present the biennial National Roadway Safety Awards to programs and projects across the nation exhibiting excellence in roadway design, operations and planning. The RSF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable and educational organization solely dedicated to reducing the frequency and severity of motor vehicle crashes by improving the safety of America's roadways.
For additional information on RSF, please visit www.roadwaysafety.org; on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/roadwaysafetyfoundation; and on Twitter at @roadway_safety, #RoadwaySafetyAwards.
For additional information on FHWA safety programs, please visit http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov; on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/pages/Federal-Highway-Administration; and on Twitter at @USDOTFHWA, #RoadwaySafetyAwards.
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ATTENTION EDITORS – Digital photographs of the award winners at the luncheon in Washington, DC will be available. Detailed information on the award winning programs can be found at www.roadwaysafety.org.
