FHWA Road Safety Audit Guidelines
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Case Study 3
Road Safety Audit of Existing Roads:
Hughes County, South Dakota
Since receiving Road Safety Audit (RSA) training, South Dakota has conducted RSAs on existing roads in their county road systems, including Hughes County.
This RSA was conducted when the County Highway Superintendent identified a need
and contacted the South Dakota Local Transportation Assistance Program (SDLTAP)
to organize the audit. The SDLTAP requested aid from the Department of Transportation
(DOT) Traffic & Safety Engineer in the DOT Office of Local Government Assistance
and from the FHWA Traffic & Safety Engineer.
Seven team members participated in the audit, including three representatives
from SDLTAP, two representatives from FHWA, a guest County Highway Superintendent,
and the DOT Traffic & Safety Engineer. The DOT Traffic & Safety Engineer
served as the leader of the audit team.
The audit team reviewed five existing roadway facilities, which were previously
classified by the County Highway Superintendent responsible for the roadways
as rural roads that were either major or minor, and either high-, medium-, or
low-speed highways. The team conducted a field visit to the existing facilities
and prepared a report summarizing the findings. The RSA summarized the classification,
posted speed, and conditions of the existing road and classified the recommended
improvements as: 1) items where immediate safety improvements should be made,
2) items where low cost improvements could have a positive impact on safety
and should be considered in a reasonable period of time, and 3) items identified
as high-cost improvements that should be considered as funds become available
for a major rehabilitation or reconstruction of the roadway. These recommendations
pertained to improvements such as relocating utility poles, modifying signing
and striping, maintaining landscaping, and improving grading.
At the end of the RSA , the items listed in the report were reviewed in a closeout
meeting with the Highway Superintendent responsible for the roadway. The Traffic
& Safety Engineer prepared the final report and forwarded it the Highway
Superintendent. A master copy of the report was also stored in the Office of
Local Government Assistance files. The RSA report was nine pages long.
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