Road visibility is critical to motorists in making decisions such as stopping, slow downing, turning, entering a traffic stream from a driveway, or merging into traffic. Adequate visibility allows motorists the time they need to avoid vehicle crashes and conflicts and will help keep roadways operating safely and smoothly. Insufficient visibility is a significant factor in roadway crashes and near collisions. This paper utilizes the ArcMap-GIS viewshed tools, and the location analysis techniques to present an evaluation of the existing visibility on portions of the interstate highway I70 in the State of Missouri compared to AASHTO requirements. The evaluation of the existing visibility is conducted on the I70 segments at Boone, Callaway, and Cooper counties. This method is a useful tool for understanding location-based risks of limited visibility on the I70 or similar highways. The GIS techniques used show that the ArcMap-GIS tools can be used effectively in determining the road visibility and locating the hazardous locations without the need for field visits. Many highways were built years before tools like geographic information systems (GIS) and other computer aided designs were available. Therefore, this method can be considered as a relevant aid for assessing geometric consistency of the I70 interstate highway and similar roads, because it identifies different segments of the road layout that offer considerably different sight distances.
Cite this paper
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