City of Hercules
Local Roadway Safety Plan
Hercules City Council
April 23, 2024
Overview
01 What is a Local Roadway Safety Plan?
02 Project Overview
04 Priority Locations
06 Recommendations and Evaluation
07 Next Steps
05 Stakeholder and Community Engagement
03 Safety Data Trends
What is a Local Roadway Safety Plan?
What is a Local Roadway Safety Plan?
Analyzes historical crash patterns and trends
Prioritizes safety improvements based on crash data and stakeholder engagement
Identifies engineering and non-engineering strategies
Meets federal safety plan guidance and Caltrans LRSP
requirements
Project Overview
Project Goals
Source: FHWA
Improve roadway safety for everyone in the
City
Incorporate Federal and State commitment
to Safe System approach to improve traffic
safety
Meet Caltrans and FHWA safety plan
requirements for future HSIP and SS4A
grant opportunities
Source: FHWA
What is the Safe System Approach?
Using the Safe System Approach:
1. Prevent Death & Severe Injury
2. Design for Human Mistakes
3. Reduce System Kinetic Energy
4. Shared Responsibility
5. Proactively Identify and Address Risk
Vision Statement
The City of Hercules will prioritize safety in all projects to support the reduction of fatal and severe injury collisions for all road users as the City continues to grow.
Safety Data Trends
Data
Analysis
• Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS)
• UC Berkeley’s Transportation Injury Mapping System
(TIMS)
• City of Hercules’s crash data
• Roadway and intersection characteristic data
Data Sources
• Crash Severity
• Crash Location
• Crash Type
• Primary Crash Factor
• Temporal Trends
• Network Screening (Crash Frequency and Severity)
What was studied
Data Overview
•262 reported crashes over 5 years (52 annually)
between January 2018 and December 2022.
• 5% of reported crashes resulted in at least one
fatality or severe injury (3 annually)
Crash Frequency by Year
0 10
20 30
40 50
60 70
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Crash Count
Property Damage Only Complaint of Pain Other Visible Injury Severe Injury Fatal 59 53
38 49
63 3.4%
4.8%
7.5%
4.1%
5.3%
Crashes by Crash Type
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Not Stated
Overturned
Other
Vehicle/Bicyclist
Vehicle/Pedestrian
Head-On
Broadside
Hit Object
Rear End
Sideswipe
Crash Count
Property Damage Only
Complaint of Pain
Other Visible Injury
Severe Injury
Fatal
65% of
all
crashes
69% of all
fatal/severe
injury crashes
Priority Locations
Priority Intersections
# Location Control Type
Collision
Severity
Score
1 Sycamore Avenue & Willow Avenue Signalized 52.55
2 Sycamore Avenue & Railroad Avenue Unsignalized 42.51
3 Lupine Road & Sequoia Road Unsignalized 41.29
4 Canterbury Road & Gloucester &
Dartford Street Unsignalized 39.15
5 Sycamore Avenue & Civic Drive* Unsignalized 39.15
6 Tsushima Street & Riverview Terrace Unsignalized 39.15 7 Pheasant Drive & Eagle Court Unsignalized 39.15
8 Marigold Place & Sunflower Court Unsignalized 39.15
9 Opal Court & Turquoise Drive Unsignalized 39.15
10 San Pablo Avenue & Hercules Avenue Signalized 31.002 11 San Pablo Avenue & Sycamore
Avenue Signalized 28.85
*The City recently enhanced the intersection with crosswalks on the west side of the intersection. The City should monitor and evaluate this location for safety performance.
Priority
Corridors
# Location Limits Collision
Severity Score
1 San Pablo Avenue South of State Route 4 to
Hercules City Limits 48.438
Stakeholder & Community Engagement
Safety Partners
Engaged stakeholders and public throughout the plan development process • Police Services
• Engineering Services of Public Works Department
• Traffic Safety Subcommittee
Community Input
• Interactive map through CCTA
Safety Plan
• Pop-Up Event
https://cctasafetyplan.wpengine.com
Feedback - Key Themes
Pedestrian
• Widen sidewalks
• Visibility concerns
• Improved access
Traffic Enforcement
• Speeding, improper
turning, and running stop
signs are common
concerns
Biking
• Connected bike network
• Widen bike lanes
• Conflict markings across
intersections
• Bike lockers
School Zone
• Congestion during pick
up/drop off
• Unsafe speeds
Roadway Infrastructure
• Converting intersections to
roundabouts
• Roadway maintenance
Emergency Vehicle Access
• Overgrown trees block site
lines
• Cars parked blocking fire
hydrants
Addressing Key Themes
Engineering Education
and Equity
Emerging
Technology
Emergency
Response
Safe Roads and Safe
Speeds Safe Road Users Safe Vehicles and
Safe Roads Post-Crash Care
Countermeasures:
Infrastructure
improvements that can
be implemented to
reduce the risk of
collisions.
Strategies: Non-engineering practices
that address traffic safety – often related
to behavior or components of a Safe
System that build a culture of safety.
Recommendations
Systemic Treatments
• Speed Management
• Nighttime Visibility
• Centerline Hardening
Evaluation and Implementation
Evaluation and Implementation
• Updating the Plan:
• Review crash data to track progress every three to five years. • Revisit safety plan for broader updates every three to five years. • Additional updates as determined with safety partners due to new trends, technologies, or strategies.
Next Steps
Next Steps
✓Continue to coordinate with regional
and local safety partners
✓Regularly collect and organize data
based on performance measures
✓Identify countermeasures and
strategies to implement
✓Explore funding opportunities – SS4A,
HSIP, ATP
Performance Measures based on:
Number of annual crashes
with key characteristics
Investments made in traffic
safety
Coordination efforts between
stakeholders
Opportunities for community
engagement