Study on Unsignalized Access Points Using Microscopic Traffic Simulation

Faced with severe problems of traffic congestion and safety, the United States of America has carried out research and application of access management techniques, aiming to improve urban road transportation, which has produced very good social and economic benefits and can be adopted by other countries. In China, urban arterial roads often have too many access points, which is one of the main causes of traffic congestions and traffic accidents. The paper has primarily studied unsignalized access points on arterial roads with two lanes in each direction, using a microscopic traffic simulation. By analyzing average delay time of the minor road approach in many situations, standards concerning traffic volumes of the intersection approaches have been given. When traffic volumes are beyond the standards, higher levels of access control should be considered. Results of the paper are very helpful for application of access management techniques.