Carlos Braceras serves as the executive director of the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) and has since 2013. Carlos’ goal with UDOT is to ensure that innovation is encouraged and employees are empowered to offer up new ideas that will ultimately improve safety on Utah roads. We had the opportunity to speak with Carlos Braceras and get his thoughts on important topics related to roadway safety. The following are excerpts from the conversation. What, in your opinion, are the most significant safety challenges in Utah and how is your department addressing them? Utah is a large state and is growing rapidly. Deciding which course of action to prioritize with the limited resources that we have is quite the decision. We are using data analytics to project where those future needs will be. In rural areas, a specific challenge is run-off-the-road incidents. For more than 15 years we have been installing rumble strips on the rural roads to address this concern. Rumble strips placed in the center lane are intended to prevent the head-on collisions that occur on the winding, two-lane roads with speeding cars. Urban areas need attention at at-grade intersections and situations where right-angle crashes occur from red light running. Another challenge on our radar is providing safe facilities for active transportation, such as walking or biking. In 2024, funding was approved for the Utah Trail Network, which will be an active transportation system across the state. This brings up the issue of the interface of active and vehicular transportation, and we are working on ways to make that safer, such as better lighting in intersections. What are some technological innovations that you think will improve roadway safety in Utah? Recently, Utah won a $20 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to do a major deployment of connected infrastructure across the state. In fact, we were actually the first state in the U.S. to have a fully operational connected corridor. We also see Connected Vehicle (CV) technologies as having the potential to be as great as seatbelts and airbags in reducing fatalities. ROADWAY SAFETY WITH CARLOS BRACERAS 46
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