TxDOT Research Library - TxDOT Research Project

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Traffic Safety Challenges and Strategies in the Eagle Ford Shale Area

What Was the Need?

In the past few years, Texas has experienced a boom in energy-related activities, particularly in extraction of shale oil and natural gas. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the Eagle Ford area has resulted in an economic boom that is benefiting rural and urban communities alike. The Eagle Ford Shale area covers more than 25 counties and seven councils of governments in South Texas. Unfortunately, many short-term and long-term impacts on the state transportation infrastructure results from these activities, including a dramatic increase in truck traffic and crashes involving commercial vehicles. Although local, county, and state agencies are beginning to implement measures to boost safety, these efforts are not properly documented and their effectiveness has not been assessed.

Project Summary

TxDOT has started to document some observed impacts of energy-related activities in the Eagle Ford Shale region on transportation infrastructure and transportation safety through the analysis of five-year crash records; however, a detailed analysis of the direct impact of these activities on transportation safety in this region is lacking. The Research Team will perform a comprehensive evaluation of crash causes and risk factors to identify the root causes of the dramatic increase in crashes involving commercial vehicles on roadways in the Eagle Ford Shale region. The Research Team will detail the main types (run-off-the-road, right angle, side-swipe, rear end) and causes of crashes in the region, effectiveness of safety enhancement measures, and the other additional interventions that can improve the current state of practice.

Project Number

0-6899

Status

Completed

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Project Details

Start Date

9/1/2015

End Date

8/31/2017

Performing Institution(s)

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA)

Research Team

RS: Hatim Sharif

Sponsor

Project Manager

Wade Odell

Amount Funded

FY16: $121,490
FY17: $145,113

Source

FY 16 RTI spreadsheet 10/9/2015

Publications from this Project

Page:

Publications Note

Report publication status unknown.

More TxDOT Projects Like This

Functional Area

Construction and Maintenance

Index Terms

Commercial vehicles
Crash causes
Regional planning
Resource development
Safety
Truck traffic

Lead University

UTSA

Researcher

Sharif, Hatim Osman

Geographic name

San Antonio, Tex.

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Comments

kevyn

See the October 2018 video by TxDOT "West Texas Energy Transportation Challenges" for a summary of some of the challenges that led to this and related research projects: https://youtu.be/_8vSa4ocsis

11/29/2018 at 10:42 AM

Helpful?

Record Added:

10/9/2015

Record Updated:

1/25/2022 5:36 AM EST

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