In 2014, 669 fatalities occurred in highway work zones -- a slight increase over the previous year. While work zone fatalities are about half of what they were 15 years ago, there is still more work to be done, FHWA Deputy Administrator David Kim said.

Caltrans Replacing Guardrail End Sections

Caltrans recently announced it has begun replacing approximately 800 X-Lite guardrail end terminals on the state highway system because the terminals do not meet field performance expectations.

  • Mar 15, 2019

Caltrans recently announced it has begun replacing approximately 800 X-Lite guardrail end terminals on the state highway system because the terminals do not meet field performance expectations. These end terminals account for less than 3 percent of currently installed guardrail end treatments on the state highway system.

"Safety is Caltrans' top priority. We regularly monitor our state highway system to improve safety for the traveling public," said Jesse Bhullar, chief of the agency's Division of Traffic Operations.

Caltrans adopted the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH) safety guidelines published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The department said it is taking a proactive step to remove the end terminals, even though Federal Highway Regulations do not require their replacement.

Each of Caltrans’ 12 districts will replace the X-Lite end terminals with one of the three Caltrans-approved, MASH-compliant end terminals. After these contracts are awarded, contractors will begin replacing these X-Lite devices. The estimated cost for the work statewide is $20 million. The department reported it is trying to complete the work within the next year, though the schedule depends on factors such as the availability of contractors and the supply of approved replacement devices.

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