Treating roads with deicers during winter storms is essential for ensuring the safety of the traveling public. However, salt runoff can negatively impact the environment. In-ditch salt capture techniques may limit the migration of salt from roads into watersheds.
Continue reading Permeable Barriers for Absorbing Road Salt RunoffAll posts by mndotresearch
Alerting Drivers Dangerously Approaching Work Zones
Motorists driving dangerously in work zones present a safety risk to workers and themselves. Alerting these drivers about their driving behavior before they reach the work zone could reduce the number of work zone crashes and enhance work zone safety. This project developed and evaluated the performance of a device that provides audio and visual alerts to drivers whose vehicles are approaching work zones at a high speed and on a dangerous trajectory.
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Strategies to Prevent Joint Separations in Culverts
Culverts are essential components of urban and rural infrastructure that guide and channel water under roads and embankments. The most common failure affecting culverts is joint separation between segments of the concrete pipes. This project examined the predictors and factors that lead to joint separations in culverts to determine practices that will decrease future separations.
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Evaluating the Safety Impacts of Select Pedestrian Infrastructure
To enhance pedestrian safety at intersections, transportation agencies may install temporary or permanent infrastructure such as curb extensions or pedestrian refuge islands. While more permanent infrastructure with concrete is generally considered effective, specific details about temporary infrastructure with flexible delineators (or bollards), such as installation, use and safety impact, would be valuable to optimize cost-effectiveness. This project evaluated both temporary and permanent pedestrian infrastructure at crossing sites to measure the effects on pedestrian safety and driver behavior.
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Assessing Recycled Pavement for Use in Road Design
Cold recycling road pavement materials into new road construction is a cost-effective and sustainable practice. However, the properties of these materials must be characterized to adequately design pavement structures. This project developed a framework and tool for transportation agencies to estimate the key material properties of cold recycled materials incorporated into road designs.
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Limiting Pavement Damage from Detours
Detours for highway construction projects direct heavy freight vehicles onto local roads that were not designed to accommodate the frequency of heavy loads. Detours to these local roads often accelerate pavement deterioration that shortens their service life and requires additional repair. This project examined the structural and economic impacts of detours on local roads to develop a framework for optimizing detour routes that limit pavement damage while maintaining traffic mobility.
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Using Onboard Vehicle Data to Assess Pavement Quality
Many modern vehicles continuously track location and performance data such as speed and acceleration. Collecting large amounts of this data to use in machine learning models has many potential applications, including aggregating and evaluating road pavement conditions. This project investigated the feasibility of using large amounts of onboard data from electric vehicles to monitor and assess pavement conditions comprehensively and cost-effectively across a large network.
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Assessing Rejuvenators That Extend Pavement Service Life
Over time, asphalt pavement becomes stiff and brittle due to oxidation, often leading to surface cracking and distress. To mitigate these damages and extend the service lives of roads, transportation agencies may apply a spray-on rejuvenator (SOR) to restore essential components of the asphalt. This project investigated the short- and long-term effectiveness of 12 SORs that state and local transportation agencies may consider for future use.
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Increasing Equity in Transportation Investments
Historically, equity has not been a primary objective in the transportation infrastructure investment planning process. By effectively incorporating equity into the process, underserved communities and Native nations can realize increased benefits from transportation improvements. This research explored effective strategies for incorporating equity in transportation capital investment planning and provides guidance to transportation agencies, planning organizations and Native nations.
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The winding road to an electric fleet
Reprinted from CTS News, November 24, 2025
Even for cities, counties, and organizations with zero-carbon emissions goals, most fleet managers are skeptical about going fully electric. Calculating the return on investment for a single vehicle is straightforward—but for a fleet, it’s complex.
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Crossroads 