May 28-29, a team of transportation professionals and bicycle safety advocates from GA and SC convened in Athens for a free, Georgia Bikes-organized workshop on how to conduct Road Safety Audits. Mr. Craig Allred, and expert on RSAs from the Federal Highway Administration, led the workshop.
A Road Safety Audit (RSA) is the formal safety performance examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent, multidisciplinary team. It qualitatively estimates and reports on potential road safety issues and identifies opportunities for improvements in safety for ALL road users.
The aim of an RSA is to answer the following questions:
- What elements of the road may present a safety concern: to what extent, to which road users, and under what circumstances?
- What opportunities exist to eliminate or mitigate identified safety concerns?
Road safety audits can be used in any phase of project development from planning and preliminary engineering, design and construction. RSAs can also be used on any sized project from minor intersection and roadway retrofits to mega-projects. GDOT has significant federal funding to conduct RSAs in Georgia and is eager to work with communities to schedule them. RSAs are coordinated by GDOT’s Office of Traffic Operations, (404) 635-2828.
You can find out all about RSAs and how to conduct them here