Evaluation of Wrong-Way Driving Countermeasures at Kansas Urban and Rural Interstate Ramps

Cunningham IV, Jack R; Anderson, Samantha; Fitzsimmons, Eric J. · 2025 · ROSA P / Kansas State University. Transportation Center

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Summary

This study addresses the persistent safety challenge of wrong-way driving (WWD) incidents, which disproportionately result in fatalities and serious injuries despite their low frequency. Motivated by the high economic and human cost of these crashes in Kansas, the research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-cost countermeasures at partial cloverleaf interchanges. The study focused on urban and rural interstate ramps in the Topeka metropolitan area, seeking to determine which interventions most effectively reduce WWD incidents. The methodology involved a before-and-after experimental design at six selected ramps: four study sites and two control sites. Data collection utilized pneumatic road tubes installed on the ramps to count vehicles and detect wrong-way entries over three distinct periods: one baseline period and two post-installation periods (one immediate and one months later). Each data collection period lasted between 10 and 14 days. The researchers classified WWD incidents into three severity cases based on wrong entry, self-correction, and error, converting these counts into incident rates per 100,000 entering vehicles. The countermeasures evaluated included red retroreflective delineators, oversized and lowered wrong-way signs, and a flashing LED wrong-way sign. The results indicated that baseline incident rates ranged from 3.7 to 92 incidents per 100,000 entering vehicles. Following the installation of countermeasures, the immediate post-installation data showed improvements at all but one study site, with rates ranging from 3 to 103 incidents per 100,000 entering vehicles. The second set of data, collected months after installation, demonstrated improvement at all study sites, with incident rates dropping to a range of 0 to 40 incidents per 100,000 entering vehicles. Specifically, the study found that red retroreflective delineators and oversized, lowered wrong-way signs effectively reduced both the number and severity of WWD incidents. In contrast, the results for the flashing LED sign were inconclusive. The significance of this research lies in its empirical validation of specific low-cost countermeasures for mitigating WWD risks at partial cloverleaf interchanges. By demonstrating that simple visual enhancements like oversized signs and red delineators can significantly lower incident rates, the study provides actionable guidance for transportation agencies aiming to improve highway safety. The findings suggest that targeted, low-cost interventions can be effective tools in reducing the high fatality rates associated with wrong-way driving, offering a practical approach to addressing a complex human-factor safety issue.

Key finding

Red retroreflective delineators and oversized, lowered wrong-way signs effectively reduced the number and severity of wrong-way driving incidents at partial cloverleaf interchanges.

Methodology

field_study

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• perceptual countermeasures
• rail grade crossings
• signage environment
• roadway lighting effects

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes