Safe Accommodation of Active Transportation Through Highway Interchanges – Balancing the Needs of Cyclists, Pedestrians, and Motorists.

<p dir="ltr">The research project was accomplished through five interrelated tasks. A literature review and jurisdictional scan revealed a strong interest in the topic in Ontario and elsewhere. In particular, municipalities have a strong desire for guidance that reflects their desire to implement design and operational features that may be at odds with provincial policies. The literature review also revealed research of direct relevance not only to designs for accommodating vulnerable road users (VRUs) at interchanges, but also to the tools for assessing these designs from both safety and operational perspectives. The promise of one such tool – microsimulation – was explored and demonstrated. Other tools, including design flag assessment and Safe Systems Index assessment, were explored through case studies based on actual interchanges in Ontario. That investigation revealed that these tools may feasibly be used to evaluate designs for the safe accommodation of VRUs at interchanges. This outcome was confirmed through the exploration of a decision matrix, which revealed that existing guidance provided for MTO can serve as a useful starting point for selecting possible interchange design alternatives. Design flags assessment and Safe Systems index assessment can then be used as supplemental decision-making tools for comparing alternatives.</p>