Development of accident modification factors for rural frontage road segments in Texas

In some states, frontage roads are frequently used along freeway and fully controlled principal arterial corridors. Their primary function is to provide access between the arterial, or freeway, and adjacent developed property. Little information about the safety performance of rural frontage roads exists. This paper describes the development of a safety performance function (SPF) and accident modification factors (AMFs) for rural frontage road segments. Both one-way and two-way frontage road operations are addressed. The AMFs quantify the relationship between specific changes in geometric design and road safety. The findings from this research show that wider lanes and shoulders are associated with a reduction in segment-related collisions. In addition, the data suggest that the presence of edge marking has an impact on rural two-way frontage road safety. The SPF developed for this research indicates that, for the same traffic volume, rural frontage road segments experience about the same number of severe crashes as typical rural two-lane highways.