Rural Intersection Conflict Warning System (RICWS) Reliability Evaluation

Project summary:

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) developed the Rural Intersection Conflict Warning System (RICWS) deployment project to reduce crashes at stop-controlled intersections. It is a statewide, intelligent transportation systems project that will deploy intersection conflict warning systems at up to 50 rural, stop-controlled intersections. These systems will address crashes at stop-controlled intersections by providing drivers on both major and minor roads with a dynamic warning of other vehicles approaching the intersection. An RICWS site typically consists of static signing, detection, and dynamic elements. The first RICWS site, Trunk Highway 7 and Carver County CSAH 33, will operate and be evaluated for a minimum of 30 days to demonstrate reliability of the system. During this period, the RICWS signs, beacons, and any other displays will be covered and unavailable for driver interaction. The University of Minnesota will install a portable intersection surveillance system (ISS) and collect data from the RICWS as well as the ISS. The data collected from the RICWS will be validated against data recorded by the ISS to determine the accuracy and reliability of the RICWS.