00794691

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...bs/circulars/ec003/toc.pdf

Passing lanes (also known as three-lane highways), wide paved shoulders, and extra-wide highways are designed to enhance traffic operations on two-lane highways. These low-cost improvements bridge the gap between conventional two-lane highways and four-lane highways. This paper compares design practices and policies as well as the operational experience regarding passing lanes, wide paved shoulders, and extra-wide two-lane highways. Canadian and German warrants for upgrading a two-lane highway to a passing lane system and ultimately a four-lane motorway are examined. Geometric design standards for cross-section elements such as lane width and shoulder width are compared. Design standards for the length and spacing of passing lanes as well as the length of merge and diverge tapers are examined. Design practices and policies concerning transition areas between, for example, conventional two-lane and extra-wide highways are discussed. The signing and marking practices for passing lanes, extra-wide highways and transition areas are also included in the paper. The paper discusses the operational experience in terms of overtaking rates, speed-volume relationships, platooning, level-of-service, accident rates, and driver attitudes. Research studies in both Canada and Germany show that passing lanes, wide-paved shoulders, and extra-wide highways increase the quality of service and decrease the accident rates compared to conventional two-lane highways. Both Canadian and German studies have concluded that passing lanes and extra-wide highways offer a cost-effective alternative of enhancing the quality of service and safety on those two-lane highways that do not meet the warrants for motorways or where cost and environmental concerns rule out the four lane option.

The proceedings have been edited by the Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University System, College Station, Texas. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

E-C003

English

p. 34:1-15

1998-1

Transportation Research Circular

International Symposium on Highway Geometric Design Practices

Figures (8) ; Photos (6) ; References (27) ; Tables (4)

Attitudes; Cost effectiveness; Crash rates; Cross sections; Design practices; Design standards; Geometric design; Highway operations; Highway safety; Level of service; Passing lanes; Paved shoulders; Road markings; Road shoulders; Speed volume relationships; Traffic lanes; Traffic platooning; Traffic signs; Two lane highways; Width

Extra-wide highways; Passing lane length; Passing lane spacing; Pavement transition areas; Warrants (Highway upgrading)

Canada; Germany

Design; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jun 12 2000 12:00AM

• A COMPARISON OF INTERCHANGE PLANNING, OPERATIONS, AND DESIGN IN POLAND AND THE USA
• A NEW STOPPING SIGHT DISTANCE MODEL FOR USE IN HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN
• A PRACTICAL SAFETY APPROACH TO HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN INTERNATIONAL CASE STUDIES: GERMANY, GREECE, LEBANON, AND THE UNITED STATES
• A STUDY TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF EXPRESSWAYS BY DESIRABLE COMBINATIONS OF GEOMETRIC ALIGNMENTS
• A SURVEY OF PRINCIPAL NORTH AMERICAN 3R/4R SAFETY-GEOMETRIC DESIGN PRACTICES
• A SYSTEM FOR NO-PASSING ZONE SIGNING AND MARKING SETUP
• AN OPERATIONAL AND SAFETY EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE HORIZONTAL CURVE DESIGN APPROACHES ON RURAL TWO-LANE HIGHWAYS
• ASSESSING THE NEEDED PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE
• AT-GRADE INTERSECTIONS/WORLDWIDE REVIEW
• CHANGES IN HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT DESIGN STANDARDS IN AUSTRALIA AND CANADA
• COMPARISON OF WORLDWIDE PRACTICE IN INTERCHANGE DESIGN
• DANISH PLANNING AND DESIGN PROCEDURES FOR TRAFFIC CALMING
• DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR PASSING SIGHT DISTANCE AND PASSING ZONES
• DESIGN CRITERIA AND TRAFFIC PERFORMANCE RESEARCH IN NEW SWEDISH GUIDELINES ON RURAL HIGHWAYS
• DESIGN CRITERIA FOR CURVES ON TWO-LANE RURAL HIGHWAYS
• DESIGN OF INTERSECTIONS ON DIVIDED HIGHWAYS
• DETERMINATION OF LONGITUDINAL GRADES ON RURAL ROADS
• DRIVING BEHAVIOR AND DRIVER MENTAL WORKLOAD AS CRITERIA OF HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN QUALITY
• EFFECTS OF INTERSECTION GEOMETRICS ON DRIVER PERFORMANCE
• HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN: THE ISSUE OF DRIVING BEHAVIOR VARIABILITY
• IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERMEDIATE CROSS SECTIONS
• INFLUENCE OF VEHICLE DYNAMICS ON ROAD GEOMETRICS
• INFLUENCE OF VEHICLE PARAMETERS ON HORIZONTAL CURVE DESIGN OF RURAL HIGHWAYS
• INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN IN POLAND
• INTERNATIONAL SIGHT DISTANCE DESIGN PRACTICES
• INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON HIGHWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN PRACTICES, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 1, 1995. CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
• INVESTIGATION OF CURRENT AND PROPOSED SUPERELEVATION DESIGN PRACTICES ON ROADWAY CURVES
• LOW-VOLUME ROAD GEOMETRIC DESIGN PRACTICES IN THE NATIONAL FORESTS OF THE UNITED STATES
• OPERATING SPEED APPROACH TO GEOMETRIC DESIGN OF LOW-SPEED URBAN STREETS
• OVERVIEW OF CROSS SECTION DESIGN ELEMENTS
• RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN HIGHWAY CROSS SECTION DESIGN IN GERMANY
• RELATIONS BETWEEN ACCIDENT FREQUENCY AND SPEED CONSISTENCY IN PORTUGUESE TWO-LANE/TWO-WAY HIGHWAYS LINKS
• RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ROUNDABOUT GEOMETRY AND ACCIDENT RATES
• REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL DESIGN SPEED PRACTICES IN ROADWAY GEOMETRIC DESIGN
• SAFETY EFFECTS OF CROSS-SECTION DESIGN ON RURAL MULTI-LANE HIGHWAYS
• SAFETY EFFECTS OF ROAD DESIGN STANDARDS IN EUROPE
• SELECTED ASPECTS OF ROAD SAFETY IN POLISH ROAD DESIGN PRACTICE
• THE "FORGIVING ROADSIDE" DESIGN OF ROADSIDE ELEMENTS
• THE EFFECT OF RURAL ROAD GEOMETRY ON SAFETY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GEOMETRIC DESIGN STANDARDS AND SAFETY
• TOWARD THE NEW GEOMETRIC DESIGN STANDARD FOR THE 21ST CENTURY IN JAPAN
• TRUCK WIDTHS AND PATHS
• VEHICLE TRACKING IN BLACK SPOTS USING ARTIFICIAL VISION TECHNIQUES IN ORDER TO IMPROVE ROAD GEOMETRIC DESIGN STANDARDS
• WORLDWIDE REVIEW OF ALIGNMENT DESIGN POLICIES