01661607

Component

This paper presents an investigation into passing lane design configurations on two-lane highways. Different combinations of passing lane length and spacing were examined under various traffic levels using field data and microscopic traffic simulation. Field data from two study sites in Oregon were used to calibrate and validate the traffic simulation program used in this study. The simulation model was then used to evaluate the effect of different passing lane configurations on two-lane highway performance. Study results confirmed the general understanding that using longer and/or more frequent passing lanes yields better performance. Moreover, at higher traffic level, a greater passing lane length, a shorter spacing or both are required to achieve the same improvement in performance. Further, results suggest that passing lane length between 0.75 and 1 miles and spacing between 5 and 12 miles provide the highest effectiveness depending on traffic level. A regression model for performance as a function of traffic flow rate, length and spacing of passing lanes was also developed.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFB10 Standing Committee on Geometric Design.

18-03699

English

6p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Highway design; Passing lanes; Traffic flow; Traffic simulation; Two lane highways

Oregon

Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-03699

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:55AM