KYTC Sidewalk and Curb Ramp Inventory for ADA Compliance

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) requires that all public and private organizations providing services to the public ensure their facilities and infrastructure comply with regulations set forth therein. The ADA requires that a transition plan “identify physical obstacles in the public entity’s facilities that limit the accessibility of its programs or activities to individuals with disabilities.” In the first phase of Kentucky’s transition plan to become ADA compliant, KTC researchers inventoried sidewalks along all state-maintained roads in Kentucky to determine the presence or absence of pedestrian facilities. This sidewalk inventory was used to query Kentucky’s intersection database to achieve two goals: identify intersections along state-maintained roadways that have sidewalks, and determine the presence of curb ramps at intersections. Researchers performed quality control to ensure sidewalk and curb ramp inventories correctly characterized the pedestrian facilities that existed on the roadways. This process showed the error in the inventory to be approximately five percent, below the 10 percent error rate requested by KYTC. As a result of this project, KYTC now has access to a statewide inventory of state-maintained sidewalks and curb ramps that can serve as the basis for Kentucky’s ADA compliance transition plan

Evaluation of Alternative Rumble Strip Designs

Since Kentucky’s initial rumble strip designs were adopted, there has been additional research and experimentation in other states with alternative designs as a response to complaints from the public about noise pollution caused by rumble strips. The new research indicates that other rumble strip designs might provide increased interior noise/vibration with decreased exterior noise. Application of these alternative designs in Kentucky could result in improved rumble performance, reduced damage to new pavement, decreased noise pollution, installation on roadways with lower speed limits, and allow reinstallation of rumbles on thin overlays/microsurfacing. The research team reviewed national and state guidelines for conventional and alternative rumble strip designs and compiled a synthesis of current rumble strip practices. A series of site visits to rumble strip installations across the state revealed many findings about Kentucky’s current rumble strip practices. This research provides recommendations for conventional, sinusoidal, and shallow rumble strips as well as for rumble strip maintenance, rumble strips on thin overlays, and the use of edgeline and centerline rumble strips

Implementing a Reconciliation and Balancing Model in the U.s. Industry Accounts

As part of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis’ integration initiative (Yuskavage, 2000; Moyer et al., 2004a, 2004b; Lawson et al., 2006), the Industry Accounts Directorate is drawing upon the Stone method (Stone et al., 1942) and Chen (2006) to reconcile the gross operating surplus component of value-added from the 2002 expenditure-based benchmark input-output accounts and the 2002 income-based gross domestic product-by-industry accounts. The objective of the reconciliation is to use information regarding the relative reliabilities of underlying data in both the benchmark input-output use table and the gross domestic product-by-industry accounts in a balanced input-output framework in order to improve intermediate input estimates and gross operating surplus estimates in both accounts. Given a balanced input-output framework, the Stone method also provides a tool for balancing the benchmark use table. This paper presents work by the Industry Accounts Directorate to develop and implement the reconciliation and balancing model. The paper provides overviews of the benchmark use table and gross domestic product-by-industry accounts, including features of external source data and adjustment methodologies that are relevant for the reconciliation. In addition, the paper presents the empirical model that the Industry Accounts Directorate is building and briefly describes the technology used to solve the model. Preliminary work during development of the model shows that reconciling and balancing a large system with disaggregated data is computationally feasible and efficient in pursuit of an economically accurate and reliable benchmark use table and gross domestic product-by-industry accounts.

Estimation of Average Daily Traffic on Local Roads in Kentucky

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) officials use annual average daily traffic (AADT) to estimate intersection performance across the state maintained highway system. KYTC currently collects AADTs for state maintained roads but frequently lacks this information on local roads. A method is needed to estimate local road AADTs in a cost-effective and reasonable manner. Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers conducted a literature review on U.S. AADT models but found that none of them were suitable to Kentucky. Therefore, KTC developed an AADT model using non-linear regression to estimate AADTs on approaches to those intersections. KTC developed a Poisson distributed, non-linear regression model to estimate AADT. This model divided the state into three regions encompassing all of the highway districts: West (Districts 1, 2, 3, and 4), North Central (Districts 5, 6, and 7), and East (Districts 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12). This partitioning accounted for geographic and socioeconomic variability across the state. Each regional model relied upon three independent variables: probe count, residential vehicle registration, and curve rating. HERE proprietary probe counts—indicative of vehicle movements—provide tracking visibility on a select portion of vehicles moving across Kentucky highways. Residential vehicle registrations can be used to estimate trip generation information. Finally, the curve rating partially indicates accessibility. Model results were adjusted to KYTC daily vehicle miles traveled (DVMT) county control totals for local roads. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to examine the impact of model errors for use in intersection safety analysis. Results indicate that the estimates generated can be effectively used for safety assessment and countermeasure prioritization

In-Service Evaluation of High Tension Cable Barrier Systems

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has installed hundreds of miles of high-tension cable median barrier (CMB) as a safety innovation. The usage of CMB aids in the prevention of crossover crashes, where a vehicle departs the roadway on the left shoulder, crosses the median, and enters the opposing lane(s) of traffic. KYTC officials have questioned whether all three barrier products perform similarly. Some installed cable barrier systems have lost tension across the entire cable length after a single vehicle impact. If a second vehicle were to strike the cable barrier system in a location other than the damaged area of the first vehicle’s crash, ideally, the high-tension cable barrier system should continue to prevent errant vehicles from crossing the median and causing a head-on collision. The goal of this research was to improve the safety and effectiveness of Kentucky’s cable barrier systems by reviewing state DOT best practices for cable barrier, conducting on-site evaluation of current cable barrier installations, and examining crash data. The research team analyzed each CMB vendor product’s performance and maintenance requirements, and recommended modifications to KYTC policies, specifications, and maintenance procedures. The study showed that CMB systems have decreased crossover crashes in Kentucky, which warrants the continued use of high-tension cable barrier across the state. One recommendation of the study is to institute and enforce tension-monitoring programs, as applicable, for both annual inspections and after repairs

Grape Cultivar by Management System Trial Performance in 2007

To identify grape cultivars adapted to Iowa, a cultivar by management system trial was established in 2002 at the Iowa State University (ISU) Horticulture Research Station (HRS) and the ISU Armstrong Research Farm (ARF) with a grant from the Leopold Center of Sustainable Agriculture. Fifteen cultivars, including ten wine and five seedless table cultivars, are being evaluated under 1) a conventional management system that relies on herbicides for weed control and application of insecticides and fungicides on a regular basis; 2) an IPM/best management system that uses herbicides as needed and relies on monitoring to determine the need for insecticides and fungicides; and 3) an organic approved system that relies on a straw mulch for weed control and use of organic-approved pest control strategies. This report summarizes the results for the 2007 growing season

2002 Grape Cultivar Trial Performance in 2009

To identify grape cultivars adapted to Iowa, a cultivar by management system trial was established in 2002 at the Iowa State University (ISU) Horticulture Research Station (HRS) and the ISU Armstrong Research Farm (ARF) with a grant from the Leopold Center of Sustainable Agriculture. Fifteen cultivars, including ten wine and five seedless table cultivars, were being evaluated under three management systems that were discontinued in 2008. This report summarizes the cultivar performance for the 2009 growing season

2002 Grape Cultivar Trial Performance

To identify grape cultivars adapted to Iowa, a cultivar by management system trial was established in 2002 at the Iowa State University (ISU) Horticulture Research Station (HRS) and the ISU Armstrong Research Farm (ARF) with a grant from the Leopold Center of Sustainable Agriculture. Fifteen cultivars, including ten wine and five seedless table cultivars, were being evaluated under three management systems that were discontinued in 2008. This report summarizes the cultivar performance for the 2010 growing season

Grape Cultivar by Management System Trial Performance in 2008

To identify grape cultivars adapted to Iowa, a cultivar by management system trial was established in 2002 at the Iowa State University (ISU) Horticulture Research Station (HRS) and the ISU Armstrong Research Farm (ARF) with a grant from the Leopold Center of Sustainable Agriculture. Fifteen cultivars, including 10 wine and five seedless table cultivars, are being evaluated under 1) a conventional management system that relies on herbicides for weed control and application of insecticides and fungicides on a regular basis; 2) an IPM/best management system that uses herbicides as needed and relies on monitoring to determine the need for insecticides and fungicides; and 3) an organicapproved system that relies on a straw mulch for weed control and use of organic-approved pest control strategies. In 2008, the management systems treatments were discontinued, but still influenced the results. This report summarizes the results for the 2008 growing season