Road Transition Zones between the Rural and Urban Environment: Evaluation of Speed and Traffic Performance Using a Microsimulation Approach
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 3
Abstract
A microsimulation approach is presented for evaluating the effectiveness of a transition zone connecting the rural to the urban environment using speeds computed in simulation for showing whether drivers slow down far enough below the imposed speed limit before entering the small urbanized area. The proposed approach was also applied to prove whether, both within the transition zone and on the rural roads approaching this zone, acceptable values of the traffic performance measures expressed in terms of delay time and queue length were ensured. Five design alternatives based on the horizontal deflection were tested. The results showed that the simulated mean speeds were lower than the speed limit imposed at the start of the urbanized area for all transition zones investigated. However, a scenario with a roundabout and a T-type intersection to which two auxiliary lanes for right turns were added was also identified as having better values of the traffic performance measures. The transition zone that was built, in accordance with expert judgments, was found to confirm the effectiveness of the simulated solution. Additionally, the present paper introduces a speed-delay time model.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Province of Modena for providing traffic data and information relating to the site studied. The paper benefited from the input of two anonymous referees. Their comments proved invaluable.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 3 • March 2013
Pages: 295 - 305
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 8, 2012
Accepted: Aug 29, 2012
Published online: Sep 1, 2012
Published in print: Mar 1, 2013
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