| In an effort to reduce the speeds of vehicles approaching key gateway intersections to the City of Fredericton, a coordinated research project was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of both peripheral and transverse pavement markings. Five (5) pavement marking patterns were designed, installed and evaluated as a low-cost countermeasure to encourage drivers to reduce speeds as they approached busy intersections at urban thresholds. The unique marking patterns serve to warn the drivers of an approaching hazard and create an optical illusion of acceleration if speed is held constant through the marked section. The intent is to encourage driver speed reduction. Speed profiles of approaching vehicles were documented at each of the 5 test sites. Based on statistical analyses, peripheral square markings showed the best performance in terms of statistically significant speed reductions ranging from approximately 6-13%. The daytime impact was stronger than at night in almost all the tests and there was no evidence of a novelty effect, at least during the first 4 months after the installation of the markings. |
