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Background and Justification <br /> for <br /> Traffic Safety and Efficiency Study <br /> <br /> The proposed study is to assist the Department in implementing apro-active effort to address the <br /> following two major concerns for the County owned and maintained roadways around the island: <br /> 1. Traffic Safety: Each year motorized and non-motorized vehicle crashes on our roads are <br /> investigated and information recorded by the Hawaii County Police Department. These <br /> reports are submitted to the County Traffic Division and the State Department of <br /> Transportation. The intent of this information sharing is to track trends of vehicle crashes so <br /> improvements can be made to prevent future crashes. Due to limitations on existing <br /> manpower, a comprehensive program to carry through with a traffic safety improvement <br /> program has been hindered from being effectively implemented, with starts and stops over <br /> the past 15-20 years. <br /> The proposed remedy is to initiate a nationally recognized program to evaluate and take steps <br /> to upgrade County roads to improve traffic safety for vehicles and pedestrians island-wide. <br /> Endorsed and promoted by the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) and the Institute <br /> of Transportation Engineers (ITE), a new program entitled Road Safety Audits (RSA's) is <br /> described as a proactive approach to improving transportation safety. <br /> The RSA process involves examining a future or existing roadway, in which an independent, <br /> qualified auditor or multi-disciplinary team reports on safety issues. The results are geared <br /> toward reducing the crash potential and improve the safety performance of a roadway as a <br /> proactive approach to safety and should be used in defense of tort liability. The value of the <br /> RSA process in identifying roadway safety issues makes it an important component of any <br /> agency's safety strategy. <br /> The requested funds will be used to hire an engineering Consultant to organize and <br /> implement a Road Safety Audit program that can be used to assist our Traffic, Engineering <br /> and Highway Maintenance Divisions to transition from a complaint drive system to a safety <br /> driven orientation. Included in the scope of work for the Consultant is to propose new <br /> internal procedures to assist all three divisions so the RSA's become a routine means of <br /> improving traffic safety on island roadways. <br /> 2. Traff?c Efficiency: Currently, there are four major population centers on this island: Kona, <br /> Waimea, Hilo and Puna. Of these towns, Hilo has the most extensive roadway network <br /> providing motorists with a variety of travel routes to get to various destinations between <br /> home and work. The roadway network of arterial and major collector roads in Puna, Kona <br /> and Waimea are very limited in meeting the needs for these communities which have seen a <br /> significant growth in population of residents and visitors over the past 20 years. This <br /> population growth and the corresponding increase in the number of vehicles, bicycles and <br /> pedestrians has placed an ever increasing strain on the limited roadways causing major traffic <br /> delays during peak travel hours. In addition, new construction projects geared to improve <br /> <br />