Report of the Highway 407 Safety Review Committee

CONTENTS
1. PROJECT INFORMATION
1.1 Foreword
1.2 Name and extent of project
1.3 Project description
1.4 Ontario Provincial Police involvement
1.5 The safety review committee mandate

2. COMMITTEE RESOURCES
2.1 Committee membership
2.2 Process overview
2.3 Supporting reference material
2.4 Site visits
2.5 The role of PEO
2.6 How this report is organized

3. ROAD SAFETY REVIEW PRINCIPLES
3.1 Preamble
3.2 There are no safe roads
3.3 The nature of safety improvements
3.4 Diminishing marginal benefits
3.5 A possible objection?
3.6 Knowledge, judgment and standards
3.7 Road design standards and safety
3.8 Prevention, not fault
3.9 Comments and questions

4. HIGHWAY DESIGN PRINCIPLES
4.1 What is design?
4.2 The designer's toolkit
4.3 The role of standards
4.4 Applying standards in design
4.5 The design challenge
4.6 The design objective

5. FINDINGS - DESIGN REVIEW OF HIGHWAY 407
5.1 Design review framework
5.2 Background history
5.3 Design review commentary
5.4 Statement of conformity to standards

 6. ISSUES ARISING - HIGHWAY 407
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Median width
6.3 High-mast lighting
6.4 The clear zone
6.5 Traffic barriers
6.6 Interchange ramps
6.7 Acceleration lane lengths
6.8 Slope at the road's edge
6.9 Pavements
6.10 Signs and markings

7. VALUE ENGINEERING OUTCOMES - HIGHWAY 407
7.1 Background
7.2 What is value engineering?
7.3 Road safety context of the work
7.4 Observations on the value engineering outcomes
7.5 Comments

8. OBSERVATIONS - HOW TO BUILD SAFETY INTO A ROAD
8.1 How to build safety into a road

9. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
9.1 Responding to the mandate
9.2 What should be done to build the right amount of safety into roads?

10. COMMITTEE SIGN-OFF

APPENDIX A. GLOSSARY

APPENDIX B. KEY PLAN OF REVIEW PORTION OF HIGHWAY 407

APPENDIX C. BIOGRAPHIES OF PEO HIGHWAY 407 SAFETY REVIEW COMMITTEE

APPENDIX D. LIST OF DOCUMENTS PROVIDED TO THE REVIEW COMMITTEE
List of Figures List of Tables
Figure 3.1 Freeway acceleration lane
Figure 3.2 Arterial-to-freeway inner loop ramp
Figure 5.1 Design History of Highway 407
Figure 5.2 Organizational History
Figure 5.3 The Highway 407 Development Context
Figure 5.4 Typical Cross-Section
Figure 6.1 Median shoulder measurement on Highway 407
Figure 6.2 Shoulder rumble strips
Figure 6.3 Roadside recovery zone
Figure 6.4 Number of expected excursions from high-speed highways
Figure 6.5 Ability of drivers to recover during high-speed vehicle excursions from a road
Figure 6.6 Severity index measuring proportions of fatalities, injuries and property damage
Figure 6.7 Median Barrier Warrant Guide
Figure 6.8 Fully directional four-level interchange
Figure 6.9 Partially directional interchange with loop ramps
Figure 6.10 Arterial-to-freeway interchange (Parclo A-4)
Figure 6.11 Embankment elements
 Table 5.1 Roles in Building Highway 407
Table 5.2 Framework for the Review of Design Plans
Table 6.1 Ramp Design Speed
Table 6.2 Ramp Design Speed
Table 6.3 Ramp Design Speeds for Urban Freeways
Table 6.4 Ramp Design Speeds for Urban Interchange Loop Ramps Leading from an Arterial Road to a Freeway
Table 6.5 1970s Standards for Acceleration Lane Lengths on Freeway Entrances