EVALUATION OF FREEWAY TRAFFIC AT RAMPS, COLLECTOR ROADS AND LANE DROPS

THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO MAKE AN EVALUATION OF FREEWAY TRAFFIC FLOW CHARACTERISTICS FOR SEVERAL HIGH STANDARD GEOMETRIC DESIGN FEATURES. THE STUDY EVALUATES AND COMPARES THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT RAMP TYPES, SPACING, AND VOLUMES ON FREEWAY CAPACITY AND OPERATION. COLLECTOR-DISTRIBUTOR ROADS, AUXILIARY LANES, AND LANE DROPS ARE INCLUDED. THE PRIMARY MEASURE OF EFFECTIVENESS USED FOR THIS STUDY WAS DENSITY (VEHICLES PER LANE-MILE). DENSITY WAS CHOSEN RATHER THAN SPEED BECAUSE IT IS A BETTER INDICATION OF DRIVING CONDITIONS. THE MAJOR FINDING OF THIS STUDY IS THAT THOSE DESIGNS THAT OFFER GREATER FLEXIBILITY (FREEDOM OF CHOICE TO THE DRIVERS) WILL RESULT IN SMOOTHER AND MORE EFFICIENT OPERATION. FOR EXAMPLE, A FREEWAY WITH AUXILIARY LANES HAS GREATER FLEXIBILITY THAN A FREEWAY WITH A COLLECTOR ROAD SYSTEM WITH THE SAME TOTAL NUMBER OF LANES. IT ALSO HAS GREATER CAPACITY AND MORE EFFICIENT OPERATION. /AUTHOR/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract No C-3-1
• Corporate Authors:

  California Department of Public Works

  1120 N Street
  Sacramento, CA  United States  95814

  California Division of Highways

  Bridge Department
  Sacramento, CA  United States  05914
• Authors:
  • Martin, D B
  • NEWMAN, L
  • Johnson, R T
• Publication Date: 1972-4

Media Info

• Pagination: 107 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Flexibility; Freeways; Geometric design; Highway capacity; Highway design; Interchange ramps; Location; Spacing; Streets; Traffic congestion; Traffic density; Traffic flow
• Old TRIS Terms: Collector distributor roads; Freeway capacity; Freeway design; Ramp location & spacing
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00225019
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: California Department of Public Works
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 5 1973 12:00AM