Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)
HSIP Overview
Special Notice
Given the timing of releasing this year’s HSIP program updates, the FY 2010-11 HSIP application deadline has been extended to September 30th, 2009.The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) authorizes the Federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit from 2005-2009. SAFETEA-LU establishes a new core Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) that is structured and funded to make significant progress in reducing highway fatalities and injuries. HSIP funding is expected to continue at existing or expanded levels.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has developed a HSIP that involves the identification of problem safety areas, an analysis of problems and countermeasures, and the prioritization and scheduling of improvement projects. VDOT’s HSIP program consists of the following programs: Highway Safety Program (HSP), Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program (BPSP), High Risk Rural Road Program (HRRRP) and Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Program (H-RGCP).
HSIP Guidelines for Fiscal Year 2010-11 have been updated. Applicants are required to follow the Guidelines to ensure their applications will be considered and processed: HSIP Guidelines (FY10 - 11) 
(PDF, 354 KB) . Please note the new section below that provides crash summary listings to support developing applications on the VDOT maintained system. Given the new crash reporting form (FR300) being used, 2008 crash information has not been entered and will not be summarized until fall of 2009 (after HSIP deadline). On the VDOT system, crashes may be retrieved thru June 2008 at this time. Cities may provfide supporting crash information thru the entire 2008 calendar year.
Applicants for Highway Safety Program should read Chapter 1, 2 and 3. Applicants for Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program should read Chapter 1, 2 and 4. Applicants for Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Program should read Chapter 1, 2 and 5. High Risk Rural Road Program, a set-aside of HSP funds, is described in the HRRR section of this webpage.
All necessary application documents are provided in the “Application Package Download” section of this webpage.List of tentative HSIP projects for FY2009-10
Attached is a tentative list of Highway Safety Program (HSP) projects and Bike and Pedestrian Safety (BPS) projects to be funded in the Virginia Transportation Six-Year Plan for FY 2009-10.
Please prepare to assign an appropriate project manager, initiate and scope these projects after the HSIP is approved through State Transportation Improvement Plan process during the fall of 2009. Then you will be in a position to begin the preliminary engineering work as soon as possible.
During project delivery, if the cost increases substantially over the application estimate, a new benefit-cost (B/C) ratio will need to be computed to determine if the project remains eligible for additional HSIP funding. Should the project B/C become less than 1.0 at any time, the project will no longer qualify for additional HSIP funds.
If the cost increase is greater than 10 percent of the original estimate, the applicant will be required to cover the additional cost with an alternate funding source or reduce the scope of the project. If neither of these options is feasible the project may be dropped from the HSIP. Applications submitted with a request for HSIP funds exceeding $1,000,000 were disqualified. Funding for larger, higher cost projects should be solicited through other sources.Active HSIP Projects
Active and ongoing HSIP projects are listed in the annual Six Year Improvement Program (SYIP) available at: http://syip.virginiadot.org/
You may generate and download a listing for your area of interest, for example district or jurisdiction, by first filtering on Fund= .Highway Safety Improvement (note first character is a dot [.]). Next the district or jurisdiction columns may be sorted and the file exported to a XLS file.
VDOT staff has additional resources for finding and tracking HSIP projects. Contact the HSIP staff for guidance on active projects.Proactive HSIP Projects
Starting from FY 2007, HSIP sets aside a portion of funds for proactive safety improvement. To distinguish these projects from regular HSIP projects selected from annual application process, these projects are called “Proactive HSIP Projects” while the latter are called “Regular HSIP Projects”. To be proactive, by improving safety with quickly implemented projects, HSIP funding has been allocated to specific severe crash corridors and jurisdictions. Allocations are anticipated in the foreseeable future to sustain this proactive approach. The intent of this approach is to address lower cost needs for signing, marking, signals, shoulders and non-motorized accommodations within public right of way.
Guidelines and requirements for developing improvement projects using Proactive HSIP funds are consistent for all HSIP projects and must use the same forms provided below for the annual applications. The following guidelines provide the framework for this new approach to finding and mitigating deaths and injuries from crashes on all public highways in Virginia:
PDFs
- HSIP Proactive Safety Project Funding Guidelines (137 KB)
- HSIP Proactive Safety Project Development Summary (16 KB)
- HSIP Proactive Funding Guidelines (Presentation) (480 KB)
High Risk Rural Road Program
SAFETEA-LU introduced a new set-aside provision known as the High Risk Rural Roads Program (HRRRP), codified as 23 U.S.C. §148 (f) for reducing the frequency and severity of collisions on rural roads functionally classified as a rural major collector, rural minor collector and rural local roads by correcting or improving hazardous locations or features:- on which the crash rate for fatalities and incapacitating injuries exceeds the statewide average for those functional classes of roadway; or
- that will likely have increases in traffic volume that are likely to create a crash rate for fatalities and incapacitating injuries that exceeds the statewide average for those functional classes of roadway.”
Guidelines and requirements for developing HRRR improvement projects are consistent with HSIP projects and must use the same forms provided below for the annual applications. The following guidelines provide the framework for identifying eligible sites and mitigating severe crashes:
- HRRR Program Guidelines (PDF, 45 KB)
- HRRR Site Selection (Presentation) (PDF, 360 KB)
Annual Regular HSIP Projects: FY2010-11 Application Highlights
Application schedule
FY2010-11 Regular HSIP Application deadline is extended to September 30th, 2009. Please refer to HSIP application schedule in the HSIP Guidelines (FY10-11) (PDF, 353 KB) .
Cost participation
VDOT anticipates providing the 10 percent local match for the FY2010-11 safety projects; however, the applicant should be willing and able to supply the local match should the state funding be unavailable. If the final project cost is higher than what was originally submitted, the applicant will be responsible for identifying sources for funding over those estimates.
Submission requirements
A summary of the submission requirements for HSIP applications is provided in the table below.
HSP Application Form (Applicable for both Regular and Proactive Application)
For FY2010-11 Highway Safety Project (HSP), the application form and the B/C spreadsheet (MS-Excel) are combined into one Excel spreadsheet form 
(PDF, 141 KB) to facilitate the electronic transmission of application data. The application spreadsheet is to be used for both highway Intersection and Section projects. Please read the instruction documents for detailed explanation.
Please note that the calculated benefit to cost ratio (B/C) number in the application is only used to assess the eligibility of a proposed improvement for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSP) funding. Improvements that provide expected crash reductions resulting in a B/C greater than one (1.0) are eligible for HSIP funding.
However, a high B/C ratio does not guarantee funding. Other factors such as the total targeted severe crashes, validity of improvement countermeasure; project cost and the time frame to complete the project; and community support for the project are also considered to prioritize the eligible improvements.
In general, quick improvement projects with limited or no right-of-way acquisition and environmental impacts that target high crash locations will receive more favorable consideration.
Electronic submission
HSP applicants are now required to submit electronic version of application documents in addition to a signed hardcopy. Electronic application forms can be downloaded from the link below. Please refer to the corresponding chapters of HSIP Guidelines (FY10-11) (PDF, 353 KB) for electronic submission requirements.
Please note that only the application form is required to be emailed to HSIPprogram@VirginiaDOT.org. Please do not email other large electronic documents with supporting information, rather send copies of large documents via US Mail with the signed application form.
Other requirements
Turning Movement Count
For FY2010-11 Highway Safety Project (HSP) application, vehicle turning movement counts are required for Intersection Projects applications only. The turning movement counts can be filled in the “Intersection Sketch” found in the HSP application form (Excel, 141 KB) worksheet.
FR300 Reports
Applicants are required to submit three years of police crash reports (FR300’s) within the project limits and to identify those crashes that are targeted for reduction (that is, crashes associated with the proposed improvement). Applicant with access to the DMV FR300 document numbers may submit those in the HSP Excel sheet provided. Both targeted and total crashes will be used to evaluate the project effectiveness after completion.
Detailed Costs
The application must show the estimated project costs broken down by PE, R/W and Utilities, and Construction. The estimates should be as detailed and accurate as possible, utilizing VDOT’s Project Cost Estimation System (PCES) worksheets. Applicants who do not have access to the PCES worksheets shall submit detailed unit costs with a descriptive reason for not using PCES.
Application package download
Highway Safety Program (HSP) and High Risk Rural Road Program (HRRR)
- HSP Application Form (Excel, 141 KB) , Instruction and B/C Analysis Method (PDF, 34 KB) , Example (intersection) and Example (segment) ( Excel, 142 KB)
- HSP General Crash Patterns and Countermeasures (PDF, 40 KB)
Bike and Pedestrian Safety Program (BPS) Non-motorized transportation safety is improved by reducing risk from exposure to motorized vehicles in time and space on the highway network. To help localities identify and prioritize locations for improvement, a recent report was prepared by the Virginia Transportation Research Council. Review the report titled Framework for Selection and Evaluation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Projects in Virginia to determine best practices for targeting safety resources for the vulnerable highway users.
- BPSP Application Form
(Word, 223 KB)
Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Safety Program (H-RGCP)
- H-RGCP Application Form (Word, 58 KB)
Application Checklist (PDF, 50 KB) for each program is available as the Appendix E of the HSIP Guideline. (FY10-11)
Contacts for information and application submittals
Please submit questions and all electronic application forms and worksheets to HSIProgram@VirginiaDOT.org HSIP staff is also available to discuss your safety applications and projects.
Stephen Read, Highway Safety Improvement Programs Manager
Traffic Engineering Division
Virginia Department of Transportation
1401 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Phone: 804-786-9094
Fax: 804-225-2448
TTY711
HS and BPS Programs: Mr. Tracy Turpin, Phone 804-786-6610
H-RGC Program: Mr. Michael Wray, Phone 804-786-2822
Crash data resources
VDOT compiles annual traffic crash data summaries for the three highway systems maintained by the Commonwealth of Virginia: Interstate, Primary and Secondary. Urban roadway networks maintained by others are summarized in aggregate given the lack of detailed inventory information. The summary reports contain statistics for crashes involving death, personal injury or property damage in excess of $1,000 as recorded by the investigating officer. The hard copies of 2002 to 2007 annual Summary of Crash Data Reports have been scanned into PDF format for distribution. To provide multiple year summaries of key system crash statistics for comparative studies, VDOT has compiled 2000 to 2007 Interstate and Primary roadway attribute based summaries into a MS-Excel format spreadsheet. These data provide statewide averages for crash densities and rates for comparisons to corridors or segments under study. Similar intersection related crash comparison statistics are available from HSIP staff.
Please be advised that, under Title 23 United States Code – Section 409, the summary crash data cannot be used in discovery or as evidence in a Federal or State court proceeding or considered for other purposes in an action for damages against VDOT or the Commonwealth of Virginia arising from any occurrence at the locations identified.
2000 to 2007 Crash data summaries
The 2002 to 2007 Summary of Crash Data Report publications are available in the Adobe Acrobat file formats. Simply click on the icon to open the Adobe PDF files. If your computer does not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader software installed on it, you can download it from Adobe’s website: www.adobe.com. It is recommended that you have Acrobat Reader version 5.0 or later to view the documents. Search functions in Acrobat may be used to find key words of the summary information of interest.
2008 crash data has not been finalized and is anticipated to be available in September 2009.
TIP: To return to this index from a publication or another index, click the “Back” button on your browser.
- 2003 Crash Summary Report (8 MB)
- 2004 Crash Summary Report (9 MB)
- 2005 Crash Summary Report (10 MB)
- 2006 Crash Summary Report (9 MB)
- 2007 Crash Summary Report (9 MB)
A summary of 2000 to 2007 statewide Interstate and Primary route statistics based on roadway inventory attributes is available in MS-Excel format.
2000 to 2007 Crash Summary Statistics on Interstate and Primary Routes (1.6 MB)
