2009-02-AU Limited Scope Performance Audit of the Highway Fund

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Chapter 5: ROAD SAFETY Chapter 5 ROAD SAFETY FINDING: The Highway Fund mission statement is: "To maintain and continually make improvements to the County's roadway County has not transportation system to permit the safe and efficient movement of defined what a people and goods around the island." "safe" road is. A Department goal for the Highway Fund is "to provide a safe roadway for the public's use." To accomplish this goal, ideally both the Highway Maintenance and Traffic Divisions under the leadership of DPW Administration would effectively and efficiently coordinate their operational resources and activities. Further, DPW would effectively and efficiently communicate and coordinate its road safety improvement efforts with other County departments and State and Federal agencies with shared responsibilities to support implementing the goals and mission of the Highway Fund. However, in order to be useful, a goal needs to be translated into measurable program objectives and quantifiable performance indicators; and DPW has not defined what constitutes a "safe roadway" for the public's use. Since what constitutes a "safe roadway" may be difficult to objectively define, a more realistic program goal may be "to continually improve road safety ". This goal can be supported by performance measures, such as a reduction in road safety - related public complaints and vehicular crashes with fatalities and injuries (by traffic volume) at identified road segments or intersections. However, the assessment of progress made toward attainment of program goals under the Highway Fund would still require that the County implement sufficient information systems applications and reporting procedures to permit accurate tracking, compilation, and analysis of public complaint and traffic crash data. FINDING: To improve road safety, the County needs to know exactly where it is, where it wants to go, and how it will get there. Strategic planning Insufficient combined with relevant measurable program objectives and planntannin for road accurate reporting of progress will aid in the development of a ing roadmap of program activities to achieve those objectives. The safety. FHWA recommends developing and implementing a Transportation Safety Plan that proactively addresses safety for both new and existing roadways, bikeways, and pedestrian walkways. A Transportation Safety Plan is a comprehensive strategic plan on how to improve roadway, bikeway, and pedestrian safety. The plan outlines specific steps for improving safety, such as installing 25