The Acadiana Planning Commission is teaming up with the Acadiana Regional Transportation Safety Coalition and the Louisiana Department of Transportation to find the T-intersections in rural Acadiana where the most crashes occur.
The planning commission says many fatal crashes in the state involve three-way intersections that form a 'T' shape, known as T-intersections, where drivers go straight through the back of the intersection into whatever is behind it, whether that be a ditch, a field or even someone's home.
"We actually had one during the holiday season. Very sad," said Ashley Moran, a senior planner at Acadiana Planning Commission. "But there are very easy ways to address it. So, what we did at the planning commission is we developed a query in the system to identify these type of crashes, and we partnered with the State Highway Transportation and Development to do low-cost counter-measures to reduce those crashes, and we have several locations where we've implemented this around the parishes of Acadiana."
Using this query, 20 T-intersections were identified as 'high-risk' and are having safety features implemented. A few are:
- Eraste Landry and Westgate Roads in Lafayette
- Sorrell Bridge and LA-87 in Jeanerette
- East Broussard Road and East Milton Avenue in Lafayette
- LA-98 and Sawmill Road in Breaux Bridge
- LA-358 and LA-182 in Opelousas
- Will Angelle Road and LA-347 in Arnaudville
- LA-319 and Weeks Island Road in New Iberia
The safety features being implemented include:
- Oversized 'Stop' signs
- Supplemental oversized 'Stop' signs on left side of road
- 'Stop' bars
- Back of 'T' sign installations
- 'Stop Ahead' signs
- In-lane rumble strips
- 'Stop Ahead' pavement markings
- The removal of railroad pavement markings
"Anything we can do to reduce that, we will do it, and this one, in particular, was great because it cost the government essentially no money," Moran said. "The government just went and implemented this essentially for free, so we really like this kind of thing because it's not a cost to taxpayers, and it helps keep everyone safe."
Moran says, so far, these additions have been successful in reducing these crashes.
"All of the locations that we implemented this, we had about 75 crashes of that type, originally, and it reduced it to six," Moran said.
The initiative was so successful that the planning commission received a National Roadway Safety Award from the Federal Highway Administration.
"So, we submitted this to the Federal Highway Administration for a report they send out to all the local jurisdictions and state highway departments on how to—best practices with safety, and we won an award, and we have a published report that's going to be distributed to everyone, describing to state highway departments and local officials on how to reduce these crash types," Moran said.
Moran says the planning commission will continue working to identify other intersections that are in need of similar safety features.
