AASHTO Journal - PennDOT Designates New State Highway Safety Corridor

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recently designated Route 40 in Wharton Township, Fayette County, as an official highway safety corridor.

[Above photo by PennDOT]

The agency said a “highway safety corridor” is a portion of a highway determined by a traffic study to be targeted for the application of signs, increased levels of enforcement and increased penalties specifically for the purpose of eliminating or reducing unsafe driver behaviors that are known to result in crashes and fatalities.

[Editor’s note: In October 2024 PennDOT helped launch a statewide training program to improve new driver safety habits, especially with regard to highway work zones.]

Within the limits of the marked highway safety corridor, motorists will be subject to increased levels of enforcement and increased penalties for moving violations relating to unsafe driving behaviors. Signs announcing the beginning and end of the corridor, along with the message that fines are doubled, have been installed.

This specific section of Route 40 has been identified as a critical location for enhanced safety measures due to its historical higher-than-average crash rates.

For example, the agency noted that, from 2009 to 2023 along this part of Route 40, 563 crashes occurred with 17 of them resulting in 19 deaths. Of those crashes, PennDOT said 276 were the result of driving under the influence, speeding, and aggressive driving.

“This new designation for Route 40 reflects our commitment to improving safety for all motorists and reducing the risk of crashes on our roadways,” explained PennDOT District 12 Executive Rachel Duda in a statement. “We are taking proactive steps to protect lives and make travel on Route 40 safer for everyone.”

State departments of transportation across the country are engaged in similar efforts to boost roadway safety.

For example, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio State Highway Patrol created several highway safety corridors in different parts of the state over the last several years in an effort to reduce injuries and fatalities related to motor vehicle crashes.

In September 2024, the Kansas Department of Transportation completed the first year of the agency’s five-year-long Safety Corridor pilot program.

The agency noted that this pilot program is a strategic initiative of the Drive To Zero or DTZ Coalition – an executive-level body representing state and federal agencies, advocacy organizations, the private sector, and the Kansas legislature – and, as such, groups within the DTZ Coalition will support the program with initial and long-term safety messaging to area communities and their organization’s customers.

More broadly, the Nebraska Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Office recently hosted a statewide safety conference to finds ways to achieve zero traffic fatalities.

And in early February, the Colorado Department of Transportation and the Colorado State Patrol set a goal of reducing the number of traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries statewide by 22.5 percent by fiscal year 2027 compared fiscal year 2023 – using safety corridors as one part of that safety strategy.