Safety First and Safety Last: ClearCourse’s Safety Minded Transportation Design Philosophy
Safety concepts are foundational in the design of any transportation project.
When it comes to keeping communities in motion, safety is ClearCourse’s number one priority. From straightforward traffic studies to complex design projects requiring innovative solutions, our team has more than 30 years of experience prioritizing safety in traffic and transportation projects all across the southeast.
Every mobility problem is made more complex by a community’s evolving needs. With road traffic crashes causing nearly 1.3 million casualties each year according to the World Health Organization, roadway professionals have a duty to create infrastructure that is compatible with community needs, efficient, well-maintained, and safe for the traveling public.
ClearCourse engineers are trained professionals, experienced in designing and improving both new and old roadways in order to maximize overall traffic flow efficiency and improve safety.
In fact, ClearCourse is home to some of the nation’s professionals most uniquely qualified to take on projects with extraordinary safety concerns. ClearCourse’s Director of Operations Brent Cook, PE, PTOE, RSP1, for example, is one of only 1,000 professionals in the country to hold the Road Safety Professional Level 1 certification. This certification presented by the Transportation Professional Certification Board provides professionals the opportunity to establish their competency in providing for the safety of the traveling public.
“Safety concepts are foundational in the design of any transportation project,” said Director of Operations Brent Cook PE, PTOE, RSP1. “We want to make sure we’ve done everything we can to ensure that our drivers are not put in a position to compromise their safety to keep them from seeing their families.”
Before joining the ClearCourse family, Brent Cook served as a Georgia Department of Transportation District Engineer for GDOT District 1, where he was responsible for the management of 400+ employees empowered to implement the GDOT core functions in Preconstruction, Utility Coordination, Construction, Maintenance, Traffic Operations, and Administration in the 21 counties in the Northeast Georgia Region. In this position, he managed the district’s $60+ million budget and served as the primary department contact for local governments and officials.
During his career with GDOT, Brent experienced a personal loss which would further solidify his commitment to safety. In 2012, Brent lost one of his dearest friends and colleagues to an accident caused by a drunk driver.
“He was a very young man with a young family, and we lost him because someone else was making a very bad decision,” Brent said.
At ClearCourse, Brent and his team implement key design concepts to reduce roadway conflicts and crashes, allow drivers more time to make crucial driving decisions, and educate the public on roadway safety.
From a turn lane extension to the construction of a right hand passing lane, ClearCourse is well-versed in quick response, low-dollar projects which growing communities can implement quickly to meet the safety needs of their expanding population. These projects all center around a very small, low-cost improvement driven by crash data with the unified goal of mitigating and eliminating crashes. Similar to these quick response projects is the use of roadway geometry in design projects, such as with the implementation of roundabouts.
“The roundabout has been huge in recent years,” Brent said. “Utilizing roadway geometry to slow folks down as they enter a conflict point has been game-changing, and more communities are relying on them to reduce crashes and improve efficiency.”
Since joining the ClearCourse team, Brent has led our team of dedicated safety professionals in prioritizing safety as the number one driving factor behind our innovative mobility solutions. In everything we do, our goal is ensuring our drivers are able to make it home to their families on efficient roads and effective infrastructure.
“It becomes a balancing act between efficiency and safety,” Brent said. “But ClearCourse always wants to air on the side of safety.”
