Abstract

The Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project is a construction and reconstruction project being undertaken to address long-term transportation needs in the Louisville metropolitan area. Partial justification for construction of the new downtown bridge and reconstruction of the Kennedy interchange is the existing safety issues and the potential for improved safety. Crash rates for the interchange area have not been fully documented to establish the existing level of safety and degree of the problem relative to state and national statistics. The objective of this study was to analyze and evaluate crash data for the Kennedy Interchange area of Louisville and southern Indiana. The analysis included three interstate corridors in Louisville-Jefferson County, Kentucky ("Kennedy Interchange corridors") and three similar corridors in Louisville-Jefferson County and Floyd and Clark Counties in Indiana ("adjacent corridors"). Results from the analysis included the following:

  • The sections of interstate representing the "Kennedy Interchange corridors" have a high total and injury crash rate as compared to statewide urban interstate crash rates. The resulting Critical Rate Factor (CRF) was approximately 2.0 for total crashes and injury crashes.
  • The fatal crash rate for the "Kennedy Interchange corridors" is slightly higher than national rates and is greater than the statewide average; however, the CRF is less than 1.0.
  • Overall, the crash rates for the "Kennedy Interchange corridors" are higher than the crash rates for the "adjacent corridors."
  • Results indicated that there were substantial costs associated with crashes in the two analysis areas.

Report Date

11-2010

Report Number

KTC-10-17/FR181-10-1F

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/KTC.RR.2010.17

Notes

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of policies of the University of Kentucky, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, or the Federal Highway Administration. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The inclusion of manufacture names and trade names is for identification purposes and is not to be considered an endorsement.

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