ABSTRACT
Traffic control and safety hardware facilities, including traffic signs, lighting, signals, pavement markings, crash cushions, and guardrails, are an essential part of physical highway facilities. Economic analysis is conducted for each class of highway. In the analysis process, highway segments are classified by land area and highway functional classification. The safety index (SI) is used to measure the relative safety performance of a highway segment or an intersection. The SI estimate needs to be validated before being used for traffic control and safety hardware project evaluation. After project implementation to a highway segment or an intersection, the traffic control and safety hardware condition is improved to the system-wide average level. When estimating the safety hardware improvement costs in the service life of the longest-lasting traffic control and safety hardware, multiple rounds of safety hardware improvement costs might need to be considered.
