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Risk -[cased Prioritization Methodology <br />Run-off the road crashes have been identified as the predominant crash type in Kittitas County and are <br />occurring at a disproportionally high rate, as compared to other public roads in the state. Because of <br />that, this plan will focus on roadside safety improvements to reduce the severity and number of <br />collisions on Kittitas County roads where it is most likely that run-off the road crashes will occur. <br />From a safety perspective, the ideal roadway is straight, with roadsides that are flat and unobstructed <br />by hazards. Straight roadways eliminate the need for drivers to navigate curves, reducing the chances of <br />running off the road, and a clear roadside area with a gradual slope allows drivers to safely recover <br />control of a vehicle in the event they do leave the roadway. This roadway geometry and clear recovery <br />area is the goal in improving roadside safety but is often cost prohibitive due to the geography of the <br />area. In cases where it is cost prohibitive to eliminate roadway curvature and create an unobstructed <br />traversable roadside, alternative improvements that would reduce the severity of an impact or alert a <br />driver to a hazard can be considered. This plan focuses on roadway segments with roadway <br />characteristics that these types of improvements, including breakaway features on posts, guardrail, <br />rumble strips, signing or traffic delineators can be implemented to reduce fatal and serious injury <br />collisions. <br />The County is using collision data, along with other pertinent roadway characteristics, to identify <br />locations that would benefit from safety improvements. The collision data shows a high percentage of <br />fatal and serious injury collisions are occurring on roads with steep ditches, embankments and/or fixed <br />objects in the way. These types of collisions are also occurring where there is no lighting, at non - <br />intersection locations, and on horizontal roadway. Additionally, based on the crash data for 2011-2015, <br />90 percent of the total crashes involved roads with an ADT of 175 or more and speed limit of 35 mph or <br />higher. <br />The locations of fatal and serious injury collisions and all of the conditions that appear to contribute to <br />these types of collisions are shown in Table 3 on the next page. <br />