Linn County secondary road department receives award for lifesaving safety program

Linn County was one of nine award recipients from across the country recognized today by the Roadway Safety Foundation (RSF) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) as a winner of the 2011 National Roadway Safety Awards.

According to the Roadway Safety Foundation, the award winners are credited for reducing fatalities and injuries on our nation's roadways through excellence and innovation in operations, planning and design. Each of the National Roadway Safety Award recipients was evaluated on innovation, effectiveness and efficient use of resources.

Linn and Jones Counties won the award for the two counties' joint use of a safety edge that reduces drop-off at the shoulder of the road and the potential loss of control for vehicles. Linn and Jones Counties designed and installed the safety edge on a 2.7 mile stretch of Fairview Road in 2010 (Fairview Road is the extension of County Home Road easterly into Jones County). The safety edge is a 30-degree slope paved into the concrete shoulder that provides better support for tires at the edge of the paved portion of the road and makes returning to the road less abrupt. Edge drop is a significant factor in loss of control crashes. This paving technique will dramatically reduce edge drop and make concrete pavements safer.

“One of our department's strategic goals is to make secondary roads safer,” said Steve Gannon, Linn County Engineer. “The safety edge is expected to save lives and to make concrete pavements both safer and more economical over the pavement life.”

“It is a privilege to formally recognize the localities and agencies that were selected for the 2011 National Roadway Safety Awards,” said John Porcari, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation. “Each one of this year's entries demonstrated a commitment to saving lives by improving our nation's roadways.”

The Federal Highway Administration and the Roadway Safety Foundation present these biennial awards to agencies and organization across the country who exhibit excellence in roadway design, operations, planning and safety.

For complete details on each of the winners, and for more information on the national awards program, visit http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/roadwaysafetyawards.

To learn more about the Linn County Secondary Road Department, visit

www.linncounty.org/engineer