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Rethinking Safety
from Reimagining 322: Strategies for the proposed State College Area Connector in Penns-Brush Valley
Way to improve the safety on US 322
Joseph Notte LARCH 414 | Fall 2022
Strategy
Safety is of paramount importance on every roadway. Many states are rethinking safety solutions with a greater emphasis on multiple users and the specific needs of different road types, two-lane rural vs. freeway, for example— particularly where different road types and users intersect. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) notes that accident rates are higher in areas where the roadway changes significantly or unexpectedly. Rethinking safety and shifting away from a single approach to highway safety is being driven by a dramatic increase in highway fatalities in the United States. In a November 27, 2022, article, “The Exceptionally American Problem of Rising Highway Deaths,” the New York Times reported that since 1994 highway-related pedestrian deaths have increased by 19%, bicycle deaths by 17%, and motorcycle deaths by 140%.
