Development of a Comprehensive Framework for Managing Decisions Regarding Highway Bypasses

Principal Investigator:

David Plazak, dplazak@iastate.edu (other projects)

Project Status: In Progress

Start Date: 03/01/2007
End Date: 12/31/2007


Research Objective: --Identify the circumstances in which highway bypasses are likely and unlikely to have significant impacts on communities and local economies

--Identify how communities can address these impacts

--Identify the net safety impacts of completed bypass projects

Abstract

Highway bypasses allow through traffic to travel around communities with minimal time delays. Since 1964, Iowa has constructed bypasses to divert traffic around almost 50 cities and towns, but more recently, has reversed course. The reversal is driven primarily by concerns of both citizens and businesspersons that they will draw business out of town - despite research indicating that bypasses appear to have much less impact on communities than is generally feared. Even though considerable research has been done on the economic impacts of bypasses, there is a surprising lack of research on the safety impacts. This project is intended to fill the gaps in the research literature and will result in a comprehensive assessment of bypass impacts and a policy framework regarding when it is prudent to bypass.

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