Write Up:

A traffic incident is an unplanned event that blocks travel lanes and temporarily reduces the number of vehicles that can travel on the road. The speed of incident clearance is essential to the highway system returning to normal conditions. Responding to and quickly addressing the incident (crashes, debris and stalled vehicles) improves system performance.

St. Louis recorded 3,154 traffic incidents with an average time of 29 minutes to clear those incidents in the fourth quarter of 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019, there was a decrease of 7% in the number of incidents and an increase of 2.5% in clearance times.

Kansas City recorded 2,027 traffic incidents with an average time of 23.4 minutes to clear those incidents in the fourth quarter of 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019, there was a decrease of 14.8% in the number of incidents and an increase of 2.2% in clearance times.

Springfield recorded 505 traffic incidents with an average time of 31.3 minutes to clear those incidents in the fourth quarter of 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019, there was an increase of 14.5% in the number of incidents and a decrease of 3.7% in clearance times.

Rural counties of I-70 between mile marker 28 (Oak Grove) to MM 203 (Foristell) recorded 55 incidents and an average clearance time of 54.5 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019, there was a decrease of 31.3% in the number of incidents and a decrease of 4.6% in clearance times.

Rural counties of I-44 between MM 0 (Oklahoma) to MM 69 (Springfield) and MM 91 (Strafford) to MM 224 (Sullivan) recorded 98 incidents and an average clearance time of 52.5 minutes in the fourth quarter of 2020. Compared to the same period in 2019, there was a decrease of 5.8% in the number of incidents and a decrease of 9.3% in clearance times.

Overall, there were 557 or 8.7% fewer traffic related incidents during the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to same time period in 2019. During this time, traffic volumes have been trending upwards toward getting back to normal. Some of the longest duration incidents that negatively impacted the clearance times for Kansas City and St Louis involved a tractor-trailer striking a bridge support, overturned horse trailer, multiple instances of overturned tractor-trailers and roadways getting shut down for police activity. There were no major winter weather impacts during this Tracker period. To help protect our employees and warn travelers of stopped MoDOT vehicles on the roadway, whether they be Motorist Assist or Maintenance, the HAAS Alert system currently in use by the Kansas City and St Louis districts will be expanded for statewide use. This will also include installation of the system on some signal and signing crew vehicles as well.

Purpose of the Measure:

This measure is used to determine the trends in incident clearance on the state highway system.

Measurement and Data Collection:

Advanced transportation management systems are used by the St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield traffic management centers to record incident start time and the time when all lanes are declared cleared. Traffic incidents can be divided into three general classes of duration set forth by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices that include minor, intermediate and major incidents. Each class has unique traffic control characteristics and needs.

This target is established by projecting a 10% improvement over a five-year average.