Evaluating Safety Performance of an Interchange in the Design Process: Turcot Complex Case Study

Located in the southwest quadrant of the Island of Montreal, the Turcot Interchange is a major component of the City's highway system. A detailed assessment of the overall condition of this structure conducted by MTQ authorities in 2004 concluded that the full reconstruction of this major crossroads is necessary. Subsequently, a consortium that includes CIMA+ was given the mandate to provide a detailed functional assessment of the interchange and the highways flowing through it. Several scenarios were developed, and the preferred solution involves lowering the profile of the existing elevated roadways, the disenclavement of the urban area underneath and the reconfiguration of the La Verendrye and Angrignon interchanges. In order to build a safer structure, the MTQ wishes to develop a quantitative assessment method reflecting the specific characteristics of the Turcot Interchange. This method will demonstrate the gains in road safety achieved by the proposed scenario, in comparison with the existing configuration. As part of the overall project, the CIMA+ team was given the mandate to develop a road safety assessment methodology. Of all approaches considered, the Bayesian Empirical Method (EB) was selected. This project was nominated for the TAC 2008 Road Safety Engineering Award. This paper was originally published in French in the 2009 TAC Annual Conference as La reconstruction du complexe Turcot: Une nouvelle approche pour estimer le niveau de securite.