Risk Assessment of the main transport corridor in Iraq

Abstract

The increased rate of road fatalities ad injured has been a vital issue. Risk assessment of road project is essential in the planning and design stages to prevent road crashes occurring in the operational stage. In Iraq, the main transport corridor has been designed to connect major cities and used by significant traffic volume which led to increase in the crash fatalities. Therefore, it is important to identify the risk factors and improve the safety level. This paper aims to assess the risk of part of the main transport corridor in Iraq. The selected section is part of Road 9 which connects Abu Gharib district with Fallujah City. The selected methodology of assessment is based on the road features and supported traffic data developed by the International Road Assessment Program (iRAP) agency. The output of the assessment is in terms of star rating and star rating score. Higher star rating means safer road condition while higher star rating score means more dangerous road condition. The results of assessment show high level of risk for vehicles. A set of road improvements that meet safety standards are proposed such as improving delineation, lighting, Metal barriers for the median, central strips, intersection channelization, Various repairs according to the severity of the damage at pavement and using shoulder rumble strips. The results of assessment after improvements show upgrading the star rating to the recommended minimum (3 and 4 stars) for vehicles.