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NS759: Effectiveness of stop bar pavement markings in advance of controlled crosswalks
Problem
Unlike many other jurisdictions, common practice in Minnesota has been to not install stop bar pavement markings in advance of high-visibility crosswalk markings at traffic signals or stop-controlled approaches, under the belief that the high-visibility crosswalk markings provide more than adequate visual guidance to drivers regarding the proper location to stop. Although crosswalk encroachment can and does happen, especially with right turns on red, it is not known if adding stop bar markings would affect this driver behavior.
The 2023 Federal MUTCD appears to require stop bars in advance of high-visibility crosswalks at controlled intersections. As this would be a change in practice for Minnesota, it presents an opportunity for a natural experiment to evaluate the effectiveness, if any, of this particular treatment on improving driver behavior.
Objective
The objective of this research would be to evaluate the effectiveness of stop bars in advance of high-visibility crosswalks at controlled intersections. Stop bar markings require significant maintenance effort due to their location within the wheel paths and across pavement joints, thus requiring much more frequent maintenance compared to high-visibility longitudinal crosswalk markings which can normally be placed outside of the vehicular wheel paths. The maintenance costs of stop bars includes not only the material but also significant worker exposure to live traffic, public inconvenience due to lane closures, and public risk resulting from the need to place traffic signals into red flash mode to accommodate turn lane closures. Therefore, it is important to know the level of benefit, if any, that stop bars provide when used as a supplement to high-visibility crosswalk markings.
Previous research
Relevant research from literature search includes:
- Dilemma Zone Identification and Mitigation Approach at Signalized Intersections under Mixed Traffic Conditions Using UAV Data
- Safe mobility: Analysis of drivers' behavior at the stop bar of signalized intersections using mixed-effects modeling.
- Investigating the Effectiveness of Stop Lines in Improving Safety at Two-Way Stop Controlled Intersections
- Influence of Curb Return and Crosswalk Setback on Turning Driver Decision-Making and Speed Selection
Expected outcomes
- New or improved policy, rules, or regulations
- New or improved business practices, procedure, or process
Expected benefits
The numbers 1 and 2 indicate whether the source of the benefit measurement is from:
- A specific research task in your project that will be measuring this particular benefit, or
- A separate effort to analyze data provided by the state or local agency involved in this project.
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Safety: (1)
- In evaluating the effectiveness of stop bars the primary safety benefit would be a reduction in crosswalk encroachments. A reduction in encroachments would be expected to have benefits for pedestrian safety in the crosswalk and for drivers with improved sight lines on right turns when a vehicle in the left and/or thru lane encroaches.
Technical advisory panel
- TBD