Contribution to the Development of Guidelines for Toll Plaza Design

Increased design, construction, and operation of toll facilities are trends in the United States. Few toll plaza design guidelines exist and proper and safe toll plaza design is even more critical with the implementation of electronic toll collection. Several elements of toll plaza design have been identified in earlier research to be deficient. This research explores toll plaza design guidelines within the categories of horizontal and vertical geometrics. Current design publications with horizontal and vertical design guidelines, such as the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), and A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (commonly referred to as the “Green Book”), do not adequately provide the necessary guidance to design effectively a toll plaza. The design guidelines presented in this research include toll plaza approach taper rates, departure taper rates, queue area length, recovery zone length, toll lane widths, lane configuration, pavement cross slope, profile grades, and sight distance. Current practices from 13 toll authorities in the United States were assessed, a panel of toll plaza design experts were assembled to provide review, and horizontal and vertical design guidelines for toll plazas are recommended.