capacity within the improvement limits induced additional demand from nearby roadways onto the adjacent sections of US 27. This additional demand triggered sections of US 27 to operate at LOS that are not within the acceptable range further exasperating the capacity issues within the study area compared than the No Build and fails to meet the purpose and need for the Highlands County.
The crash data for the five-year period from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023 was analyzed based on Florida Department of Transportation's Crash Analysis Reporting System and the University of Florida's Signal Four Analytics database for the US 27 from the Highlands County/Glades County Line to Avon Park Cut Off Road in Polk County. Between the years 2019 and 2023, there was a total of 2,782 crashes with an economic loss of an estimated $903 million. Of the 2,782 crashes, there were 57 (2.04%) fatal crashes along US 27, 145 (5.2%) serious injury crashes, 1,062 (38%) injury crashes and 1,518 property damage only crashes (55%).
Multiple segments in the northern and southern limits of the study area exceed the statewide crash rate of 0.75 and the district wide crash rate of 0.70 (0.83 and 2.46 respectively). While the overall, total crashes in the US 27 study corridor have decreased over years, fatal crashes have increased over the five-year period. 2% of crashes in the study corridor were fatal crashes, with the highest number occurring at US 27 and Main Street in Avon Park.
The Crash Reduction Factors (CRF) developed by FDOT is used for the improvements in the study area. FDOT Safety Office Crash Reduction Analysis Safety Hub (CRASH) program is a safety improvement tools used by FDOT to conduct benefit-cost analyses and calculate CRF (https://fdotwww.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/docs/default-source/roadway/qa/tools/crfguide.pdf?sfvrsn=2e360f88_2). The improvement in the alternative by ‘lanes added to the travel way’ decreases the total crashes by 13%. However, the improvement increases the sideswipe, fixed-object, wrong-way, and pedestrian crashes.
In summary, general-purpose lane widening/capacity alternatives along US 27 is not viable considering the induced demand causing further capacity constraints outside the improvement limits and doesn't meet the purpose and need for the corridor as the crashes also increases with lane widening.
The need to identify an alternative corridor to US 27 that provides the critical mobility for the travelers and trucks along with providing the necessary resiliency needs to be examined. The current US 27 corridor can be reconfigured to address the needs for the