Inadequately timed traffic signals at intersections are a major contributor to traffic congestion and increased travel times. Adaptive signal timing can detect and respond to real-time vehicle queues, resulting in more efficient vehicle movement through a corridor than traditional traffic signals. A revised max-pressure traffic signal controller could decrease delays and increase vehicle throughput at intersections.
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Improving Pollinator Habitat Through Cost-Effective Roadside Revegetation
Pollinating insect populations are declining worldwide. Revegetating roadsides after construction offers an opportunity to create pollinator-friendly habitat. Local agencies and MnDOT have new tools and strategies to cost-effectively derive multiple benefits from roadside revegetation efforts.
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Pond Maintenance Strategies to Retain Phosphorus
Cities and counties depend on stormwater retention ponds to protect water quality in lakes and streams. New research sponsored by the Minnesota Local Road Research Board has identified cost-effective methods for ensuring pollutants remain in pond sediment and are not released into other bodies of water.
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Increasing Cold In-Place Recycling Efficiency for Pavement Rehabilitation
New tools will help local road engineers reliably estimate the curing time of a cold in-place recycling (CIR) layer. Researchers identified factors that affect asphalt curing when a CIR method is used to know when pavement is sufficiently hardened, which will minimize delays in road construction and reopening.
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Putting Research Into Practice: Decision-Making Tools for Roadway Management
New guidance and a process framework will help local agency engineers with varying levels of expertise and resources benefit from the experiences of their peers. Using these tools, engineers can take manageable, proactive steps to prioritize investments that maintain and preserve transportation networks.
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Innovative Materials and Technologies for Sustainable Pavement Infrastructure
In search of enhanced pavement damage detection practices, researchers investigated two innovative additives to asphalt binders: graphite nanoplatelets and taconite concentrates. They also examined the ability of microwave energy to restore subsurface cracking.
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Improved In-Vehicle Lane Departure Warning System Approaches Commercial Use
Using an earlier lane departure warning system (LDWS) that employs standard GPS data rather than expensive cameras or maps, Minnesota researchers have enhanced and refined the system, moving closer to an affordable product to warn drivers about dangerous lane drift and approaching curves.
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Separated Bike Lanes: Filling the Gaps in Design Guidance
In recent years, many U.S. cities have been installing separated bicycle lanes (SBLs) as part of their nonmotorized transportation networks. SBLs are bicycle pathways that employ paint and a vertical element as a buffer to separate motor vehicle traffic from bicycle traffic. They reduce crash risk, increase safety and comfort, and encourage more people to use bicycles as transportation.
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Low-Cost Pavement Condition Forecasting Software Eases Local Road Planning
The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) has added pavement condition forecasting technology to an existing, web-based roadway inventory tool that will enable counties to generate low-cost maps and reports that help them prioritize their work by showing how roadway conditions will look under different construction scenarios for decades to come.
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New Project-Quantifying the Impacts of Complete Streets: The Case of Richfield
Complete Streets is a transportation policy and design approach that requires streets to be planned, designed, operated, and maintained to enable safe, convenient and comfortable travel and access for users of all ages and abilities, regardless of their mode of transportation. A newly funded research project aims to demonstrate the economic and non-economic benefits of Complete Streets in the city of Richfield, which has been active in reconstructing several previously vehicle-oriented roads to allow for safe travel by those walking, cycling, driving automobiles, riding public transportation, or delivering goods.
By measuring the impacts of pedestrian- and bike-related improvements in Richfield, this Minnesota Local Road Research Board-funded study hopes to help guide future transportation investments for building sustainable and safe urban environments.
This analysis will include four closely related steps:
- First, University of Minnesota researchers will select suitable improvement sites in Richfield to study and collect project information, including project maps, description of complete street features and GIS files at the parcel level before and after the project.
- Identify economic and measurable non-economic benefits. The university will work with the City of Richfield to identify possible economic benefits (such as increased property value) and other measurable benefits (such as public health benefits associated with pedestrian or cycling activities) of the Complete Streets projects.
- Estimate economic benefits, such as increased housing value or as additional business activities.
- Lastly, researchers will quantify and monetize non-economic benefits, such as public health or environmental benefits related to pedestrian or cycling activities. Data about benefit indicators will be collected through survey or interview. These benefits will then be monetized using common value parameters identified from the literature.
Crossroads 