01763713

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https://annualmeeting.myt...nlineProgram/Details/15557

Several unconventional designs have been suggested to enhance traffic operation and safety at intersections. However, the operational benefits of implementing some of them are achieved only under certain traffic conditions. For instance, the operational performance of the restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) intersection design manifests only under highly unbalanced traffic conditions. The RCUT intersection outperforms conventional intersections that are subjected to high major traffic and light minor traffic volumes, while its operational performance fades at intersections with moderate to heavy minor road traffic. In this technical paper, a new innovative 4-leg intersection design has been proposed to replace the RCUT implementation under moderate and heavy minor road traffic volume. The new intersection design which has been named “Shifting Movements” (SM) intersection has a low number of conflict-points compared to conventional intersections, but similar to the RCUT. Therefore, similar safety benefits are expected to be achieved by the implementation of the SM intersection. Operation evaluation and comparison between conventional, RCUT, and SM intersections have been conducted in the microscopic simulation environment. Different traffic volume levels and left-turn proportions have been assumed to represent the peak hour with moderate to high left-turn traffic. The results indicated that the SM intersection design significantly outperforms conventional and RCUT intersections that are subjected to high traffic volumes in terms of average control delay and throughput. Four hundred ft. for the side street length is sufficient at the SM intersection design, while 500 ft. length is recommended for very heavy traffic volumes.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AKD10 Standing Committee on Performance Effects of Geometric Design.

TRBAM-21-00246

English

17p

2021

Transportation Research Board 100th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Alternatives analysis; Highway design; Intersections; Left turns; Traffic delays; Traffic safety; Traffic simulation; Traffic volume; U turns

Design; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2021 Paper #TRBAM-21-00246

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 23 2020 11:09AM