Guard Cable |
More than 100 lives have been saved with the installation of 600+ miles of guard cable on Missouri busiest highways - Interstates 70, 44, 29, 35, 55 and 435 and Routes 36, 40 and 67 - where congested, high-speed traffic was resulting in vehicles crossing medians and colliding head-on with vehicles going in the other direction. Median guard cable, made of three strands of steel cable, is designed to "catch" a vehicle before it crosses into the opposing traffic lanes, bringing it to a stop before it collides with other vehicles. It's generally used where medians are 60 feet wide or less. Since installation of the cable, cross-median fatalities have decreased from appoximately 50 a year down to less than 10 on our interstates. A study on Interstate 70 showed that guard cable succeeded in stopping cars from crossing into the opposing lanes of traffic 94 percent of the time. How does median guard cable work? Preliminary figures released by the Missouri Department of Transportation for 2008 show only one cross-median highway death where guard cable was installed. Guard cable installation has been complete on the state's two major interstates - 70 and 44 - for several years with tremendous results. In 2002, with only limited miles of guard cable installed on I-70, there were 24 cross-median fatalities. In 2008, preliminary statistics show there was one such fatality. I-44 had 25 crossover deaths in 2006. That number dropped to zero in 2008 thanks to the guard cable. The American Society of Civil Engineers has cited the success of Missouri's median guard cables in reducing highway deaths in its 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Find the American Society of Civil Engineers' full report at http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/ |