Highway Safety Programs and Projects Information about programs and projects designed to improve safety on North Carolina’s roadways.

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  • HSIP Content

    The purpose of the North Carolina Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) is to provide a continuous and systematic process that identifies reviews and addresses specific traffic safety concerns throughout the state. The program is structured in several distinct phases:

     A system of safety warrants is developed to identify locations that are possibly deficient.

    • Locations that meet warrant criteria are categorized as potentially hazardous (PH) locations.

    • Detailed crash analyses are performed on the PH locations with the more severe and correctable crash patterns.

    • The Regional Traffic Engineering staff performs engineering field investigations.

    • The Regional Traffic Engineering staff utilizes Benefit: Cost studies and other tools to develop safety recommendations.

    • Depending on the cost and nature of the countermeasures, the investigations may result in requesting Division maintenance forces to make adjustments or repairs, developing Spot Safety projects, developing Hazard Elimination projects, making adjustments to current TIP project plans or utilizing other funding sources to initiate countermeasures.

    • Selected projects are evaluated to determine the effectiveness of countermeasures.

    The ultimate goal of the HSIP is to reduce the number of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities by reducing the potential for and the severity of these incidents on public roadways. 

    Click here for the mapped HSIP Locations 


Spot Safety:
The Spot Safety Program is used to develop smaller improvement projects to address safety, potential safety, and operational issues. The program is funded with state funds and currently receives approximately $9 million per state fiscal year. Other monetary sources (such as Small Construction or Contingency funds) can assist in funding Spot Safety projects, however, the maximum allowable contribution of Spot Safety funds per project is $400,000. A Safety Oversight Committee (SOC) reviews and recommends Spot Safety projects to the Board of Transportation (BOT) for approval and funding. Criteria used by the SOC to select projects for recommendation to the BOT include, but are not limited to, the frequency of correctable crashes, severity of crashes, delay, congestion, number of signal warrants met, effect on pedestrians and schools, division and region priorities, and public interest.
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The Hazard Elimination Program is used to develop larger improvement projects to address safety and potential safety issues. The program is funded with 90% federal funds and 10% state funds. The cost of Hazard Elimination Program projects typically ranges between $400,000 and $1 million. A Safety Oversight Committee (SOC) reviews and recommends Hazard Elimination projects to the Board of Transportation (BOT) for approval and funding. These projects are prioritized for funding according to a safety benefit to cost (B/C) ratio, with the safety benefit being based on crash reduction. Once approved and funded by the BOT, these projects become part of the department's State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).

State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)​
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