{"id":159062,"date":"2026-05-19T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=159062"},"modified":"2026-05-18T11:19:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T16:19:46","slug":"um-engineering-professor-developing-national-guide-for-safer-roadways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/um-engineering-professor-developing-national-guide-for-safer-roadways\/","title":{"rendered":"UM Engineering Professor Developing National Guide for Safer Roadways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alternative intersections could aid in reducing traffic fatalities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A University of Mississippi<\/strong> researcher is working to make intersections and interchanges safer and more efficient through a project funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amir Molan<\/strong>, assistant professor of\u00a0civil engineering<\/a>, is using a\u00a0$550,000 grant<\/a>\u00a0to develop the next version of the Alternative Intersections and Interchanges design guide. This builds on the Federal Highway Administration’s\u00a0Alternative Intersections\/Interchanges: Informational Report<\/a><\/strong>, a guide to creating safer and more efficient intersections and interchanges using innovative design concepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The updated guide will serve as a key resource for transportation professionals implementing alternative intersections and interchanges,” Molan said. “The first edition, published in 2010, played a major role in advancing these innovative designs and remains one of the primary references for practitioners and decision-makers today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We hope the new edition will have an even greater influence on the industry to advance implementation of AII designs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some 39,345 fatal traffic crashes were reported in 2024, according to the\u00a0National Highway Traffic Safety Administration<\/strong><\/a>‘s most recent report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Based on statistics, about a quarter of those fatal crashes occur at or near intersections,” Molan said. “Therefore, improving intersections using innovative designs can significantly reduce traffic fatalities in the country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new guide will, in part, detail the implementation of various alternative designs, including reduced conflict intersections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There are 32 conflict points at a four-leg traditional intersection,” he said. “To improve safety, innovative designs such as the RCI would redirect vehicles from minor streets to U-turns. As a result, there are only 14 conflict points, compared to 32 at conventional intersections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Moreover, the RCI design reduces the likelihood of severe crashes by eliminating direct left turns and minimizing high-speed angle collisions.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molan is collaborating with experts from\u00a0HDR<\/strong><\/a>, a global architecture, engineering and construction services firm, as well as\u00a0North Carolina State University<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0on the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shailendra Khanal<\/strong>, an Ole Miss graduate student from Nepal<\/strong> on Molan’s research team, has chosen alternative intersection designs as the topic of his doctoral dissertation. Khanal is focusing on the safety and operational aspects of alternative intersections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ole Miss graduate students Shaishav Acharya<\/strong>, of Nepal, and Stephen Osafo-Gyamfi<\/strong>, of Ghana<\/strong>, are also assisting the research team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This project benefits not only those directly working on it but also a broader group of students interested in transportation engineering and related interdisciplinary fields,” said Srinivas S. Pulugurtha<\/strong>, UM chair and professor of civil engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“These designs improve safety for all users of the transportation system, not just drivers, but also pedestrians, bicyclists and e-scooter riders.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This material is based on work supported by the\u00a0National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine<\/strong><\/a>‘s National Cooperative Highway Research Program<\/strong> project 17-131.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jordan Karnbach<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alternative intersections could aid in reducing traffic fatalities A University of Mississippi researcher is working to make intersections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123462,"featured_media":159066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25263],"tags":[34720,34719,22470,34722,34718,34721,10089,22899,34723,34724,34725,30374,655],"class_list":["post-159062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-university-news","tag-alternative-intersections-interchanges-informational-report","tag-amir-molan","tag-ghana","tag-hdr","tag-national-cooperative-highway-research-program","tag-national-highway-traffic-safety-administration","tag-nepal","tag-north-carolina-state-university","tag-shailendra-khanal","tag-shaishav-acharya","tag-srinivas-s-pulugurtha","tag-stephen-osafo-gyamfi","tag-university-of-mississippi"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Amir-Molan-scaled.jpg?fit=1707%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123462"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159067,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159062\/revisions\/159067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}