Centerline rumble strips installed on State Route 14
to increase safety

CAPE HORN - As part of its commitment to improve traffic safety on State Route 14, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) recently installed centerline rumble strips along 15 miles of the Cape Horn Traffic Safety Corridor.

The safety corridor stretches from the southwest Skamania County line to the intersection of Evergreen Drive/Grenia Road in North Bonneville.

Crossing over the centerline is the second leading contributing cause of collisions on the corridor and accounts for a third of the total fatal and disabling collisions. (Source: WSDOT, 1/2/00 to 12/31/02.)

"The primary function of the rumble strips is to alert drowsy or inattentive drivers that their vehicles are crossing the centerline through the vibration and noise that the rumble strips cause," explained WSDOT Southwest Region Traffic Operations Engineer Chad Hancock.

Rumble strips are grooves or rows of raised pavement markers placed perpendicular to the direction of travel to alert inattentive drivers.

Traffic engineers for the Cape Horn Traffic Safety Corridor hope that the new additions will save lives. "We anticipate a significant reduction in the number of crossover collisions that are happening on the corridor," stated Hancock.

The rumble strip grinding is one of several low-cost engineering improvements recommended by the Cape Horn Traffic Safety Corridor.

Cape Horn Traffic Safety Corridor, in Southwest Washington, focuses on 15 miles of State Route 14 extending from the Skamania County line to Evergreen Drive/Grenia Road in North Bonneville. The project is a cooperative effort of county and state officials and private citizens working to reduce the number of deaths, injuries and property damage that result from traffic collisions by focusing on traffic engineering improvements, law enforcement and public education efforts. The project launched in May 2004. Date: June 29, 2005

PR Contact: Robyn Chastain, (503) 998-7525
Traffic Engineering: Chad Hancock, WSDOT, (360) 905-2240

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