State Route 59 ranked highest crash roadway in Akron region

As students scurry across one of Kent’s busiest roadways, weaving in between bumper-to-bumper traffic, the odds are increasing that the next traffic crash on state Route 59 is about to occur.

“State Route 59 has been an issue for a long time,” said Dave Pulay, Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study engineer.

AMATS, the transportation planning agency for the Akron metropolitan area, ranked 39 sections of state Route 59 among the most dangerous driving locations in the Akron region in its recent annual traffic crash report – 11 of these areas are located in Kent. The report analyzed all crashes in the Akron region between 2010 and 2012, excluding construction zone and animal-related crashes.

[pullquote]People are not paying attention. — Dave Pulay, AMATS engineer[/pullquote]Pulay attributes the problems to a combination of high traffic volume, distracted drivers and a lack of turn lanes along state Route 59, resulting in a high number of rear-end crashes – the most common type crash in Kent.

“One of my biggest concerns is distracted driving,” Pulay said. “People are not paying attention. The car in front of them stops and they don’t see it. There are just a lot more distractions in cars now. This is causing a lot of crashes and nobody seems to know what to do.”

Methodology

Each year, AMATS compiles data collected from crash records provided by the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Department of Transportation and identifies the most hazardous driving areas in the Akron metropolitan area. This data is used to identify areas with safety concerns. Municipalities are then able to apply for funding to address these concerns.

In order to be identified as a high-crash location, certain qualifications must be met. The report is divided between high-crash roadway sections and intersections. Each area must have reported 10 crashes or more within the three-year period being studied, with a crash rate of at least one per million approach vehicles.

After identifying these areas, a crash rate and severity index are calculated and an overall composite score is assigned. These are then classified as the most dangerous locations in the metropolitan area. The severity index is determined by the proportion of fatal and injury crashes at each location. Locations with multiple crashes resulting in injuries or fatalities receive higher overall rankings.

While overall crashes remained somewhat steady in the Akron region, the number of crashes in Portage County increased by 2 percent.

Intersections

Portage County houses 39 high-crash intersections out of 263 in the region – 14 of which are located in Kent.

Summit Street contains six of Kent’s high-crash intersections, totaling 153 crashes – the highest number of intersection crashes in Kent.

The intersection of state Route 261, Franklin Avenue and Sunnybrook Road ranked 8th on the list in the region and was the top ranked high-crash intersection in Kent. With an average daily traffic volume of only 11,705 vehicles, this intersection accrued 29 crashes during the three-year period. A high proportion of injury crashes at this location led to its high ranking, despite its relatively low number of overall crashes.

A four-lane highway with a 50 mph speed limit portrays a feeling of driving on a freeway, but traffic is suddenly halted when drivers approach a four-way intersection controlled by a traffic signal.

“It’s a bad combination of a traffic signal and a lot of fast-moving traffic.” Pulay said.

Road segments

The section of state Route 59 from Horning Road to Kent’s eastern border is ranked the most dangerous in Kent and number four overall in the region with a daily traffic count of 17,350 vehicles and 37 wrecks during the three-year period.

“It’s five lanes through there, and if you pull out of a driveway and want to turn left, you actually have to pull across three lanes of traffic before you’re actually over on your side,” Pulay said. “The width makes it safer in one aspect, and then maybe has an adverse affect in another.”

The predominant crash type at this location is the angle crash, Pulay said, which typically occurs at intersections and often results in greater injuries. Angle crashes occur when two motor vehicles impact at an angle.

“With rear-end crashes, the bumper absorbs a lot of the impact, and cars now are pretty much fit in with headrests and seatbelts that minimize injury,” he said. “But there’s something about being hit from the side at an angle where it’s usually a more injury prone type of crash.”

The section of 59/West Main Street between Spaulding and Longmere Drive was ranked number 63 in the region, according to the report. Although similar to the stretch near Kent’s eastern border in distance, traffic flow and number of crashes, its lower ranking was based on its relatively lower crash severity. The eastern border stretch reported three times the number of injury crashes as West Main Street.

Even though the crashes were not as severe on West Main Street, the area is still a concern. As a four-lane, narrow road with no turn lanes, congestion occurs when drivers are forced to stop and wait to turn left into driveways or side streets. This causes many rear-end as well as angle type crashes, Pulay said.

East Main Street between Willow Street and Luther Ave recorded the highest number of crashes and traffic flow on a roadway segment, according to the report. Sixty-four crashes occurred within the three-year period, while an average of 21,790 vehicles traveled the stretch of roadway each day.

Kent City Engineer Jim Bowling attributes this to a high level of congestion, which creates a difficult challenge of turning left out the many driveways along this section of roadway.

In 2011, a traffic signal system was installed interconnecting every traffic signal from Longmere Drive to Horning Road, with the goal of improving traffic flow along state Route 59 through the campus area.

“We hope to see crashes decline or the rate decline with the signal system in place,” Bowling said, adding that the 2010 data from the AMATS report shows crash data before the signal system was installed.

While Portage County reported 42 accident related fatalities during the study period, Kent reported only one – at Fairchild and Woodard Ave.

Improvements

Most safety improvement projects succeed in improving driver safety, Pulay said, but occasionally there is little that can be done. In some cases, the roadway has already been improved – lanes widened, turn lanes installed or traffic signals added. Another common limitation is that the proximity of businesses to the street limits the ability to widen lanes. This holds true for state Route 59, which is already a five-lane road throughout Kent State’s campus area.

One area that Pulay said holds great potential for improvement is West Main Street between Spaulding and Longmere Drive.

Bowling said a full improvement of West Main Street would be in the range of $10 million. In addition to wider lanes and turn lanes being added, he further suggested that coordinating the traffic signals could potentially further improve safety.

“The city of Kent, because of its size, can handle only one or two really significant jobs like that at a time, assuming that it gets outside money,” Bowling said. “When you’re talking about the top issues in the city, they’re the top issues because it’s the most difficult thing to fix.”

Kent recently completed a $26 million replacement of the Fairchild Avenue Bridge, and will begin a major reconstruction of Summit Street in 2015. The Summit Street plan is projected to cost approximately $15 million, according to Bowling. A project to interconnect traffic signals along state Route 43 between state Route 261 and Summit Street is also planned for 2017.

Bowling admitted that West Main Street is one of two possible projects to be considered as future improvements after Summit Street is completed in 2016 – the second is state Route 261. He added that decisions on projects are based on the ability to acquire the necessary financing, staffing and safety needs.

Safety related road improvements are funded primarily from federal gas tax money, Bowling said. Additional funding comes from state gas taxes, federal grants and funding from metropolitan planning organizations, such as AMATS.

However, even with safety improvements in place, Pulay said, “a careless driver is going to be careless no matter where they drive. No matter how much things are improved, a careless driver is still going to be accident-prone.”

Most common

• The overall most common time period crashes occurred in Kent was Friday between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., according to ODOT’s Crash Analysis Model. However, one exception was Summit Street, which accumulated most of its traffic incidents on Tuesdays between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
• Most crashes occur on dry, sunny days because drivers are less focused on driving and distracted by other objects in their vehicles, than during rain or snowy days, Pulay said.
•  Urban areas generally report more property damage crashes because of the slow moving traffic and congestion. While rural areas report more injuries and fatalities because of the increased speed limits and road design, Pulay said.