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                Partnerships to Use High Risk Rural Road Special Rule Funds Result in Successful Collaboration with Federal, State, and Local Agencies in Colorado
**Publication Year:** 
            2020
    
        Describe the roadway safety situation or state before the new practice was implemented. What was the safety issue, problem, or gap?

While analyzing crash history and crash patterns along County Road 306 in Colorado, analysts found roadway departures were common. As a curvy, high mountain pass road in south-central Colorado, County Road 306 would benefit from low-cost countermeasures and safety strategies such as signing, striping, and guardrail improvement.

What were the key challenges that needed to be addressed before the new practice could be implemented?

Initially, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) thought Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds could be the solution. However, in 2017, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) notified CDOT that the High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) Special Rule (SR) would apply to Colorado in fiscal year 2018, which required CDOT to obligate a certain amount of funds to HRRR in the State.

Describe the practice.

CDOT realized the County Road 306 project presented a perfect opportunity for obligating HRRR funds. CDOT’s regional and headquarter staff worked with the FHWA Colorado Division Office to transfer HRRR funds to FHWA’s Central Federal Lands Highway Division (CFLHD) to fund the safety improvements. FHWA-CFLHD administered the project on County Road 306 in cooperation with Chaffee County, the U.S. Forest Service, Pike National Forest, and San Isabel National Forest.

What technical and/or institutional changes resulted from the practice?

The project was an example of innovative partnering efforts and successful collaboration to improve safety and help reduce crashes along a high risk rural road. CDOT understood the value of matching a problem to a solution and found an innovative way to apply HRRR SR funds and save lives.

What benefits were realized as a result of the practice?

The project included roadway rehabilitation and resurfacing funded by the Federal Land Access Program grant, as well as safety improvements made possible by HRRR SR funds. Safety improvements included: upgraded guardrail systems, installed signing and striping, applied SafetyEdgeTM technology for asphalt surfacing, and a 6-foot-wide bike lane on a portion of the roadway connected with existing bike lanes in Buena Vista. CDOT plans to evaluate the project’s effect on safety when more years of after-crash data are available. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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