Challenge

Clackamas County, Oregon is one of the three major counties that comprise the Portland metropolitan area. Much of the county is rural in nature, encompassing Cascade foothills and the western slope of Mt. Hood. As part of initiating a safety culture, the County is collaborating with residents and state, regional and local agencies to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes on County roadways by half in the next ten years. Based on the 2005-2009 average number of fatal and serious injuries caused by crashes, this corresponds to saving 16 lives and preventing 125 serious injuries annually.

The objective of the County’s plan was to set the standard and foundation for developing a safety culture. Goals include aligning County departments and external safety groups to work toward common state, regional, county, and city safety goals; integrating roadway, safety, and traffic data management sources; and applying Highway Safety Manual (HSM) principles.

Solution

Kittelson prepared the Clackamas County Transportation Safety Action Plan, the first of its kind in Oregon. The plan provides the County with concrete solutions to reduce the frequency of fatal and severe injury crashes on its roadways. Working with agency stakeholders, we helped to define the scope and goals of the project and analyzed crash data to identify emphasis areas where improvements can have the greatest impact. Then, our team developed draft recommendations for the four 5E targets.