INFLUENCE OF ON-RAMP SPACING ON TRAFFIC FLOW ON ATLANTA FREEWAY AND ARTERIAL STREET SYSTEM
THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF RAMP SPACING ON THE TRAFFIC FLOW CHARACTERISTICS ON THE ATLANTA FREEWAY SYSTEM AND CITY STREETS INFLUENCED BY THE FREEWAY. TIME-LAPSE PHOTOGRAPHY WAS USED TO COLLECT DATA AT FOUR STUDY LOCATIONS ON THE FREEWAY. SPEED AND DELAY STUDIES WERE ALSO MADE ON THE FREEWAY AND SURFACE STREETS DURING RAMP CLOSURE PERIODS AND DURING NORMAL OPERATION OF THE FREEWAY. COMPARISONS WERE MADE OF VOLUMES, SPEEDS, DENSITIES, OVERALL TRAVEL, AND OVERALL TRAVEL TIME ON THE STREETS WITHIN THE SYSTEM USING ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE TECHNIQUES. IT WAS FOUND THAT CLOSING ANY ONE OF THE NORTHBOUND ON- RAMPS ON THE NORTH FREEWAY DURING THE AFTERNOON PEAK HOUR IMPROVED THE OVERALL OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FREEWAY. THIS IMPROVEMENT WAS SHOWN BY A SMOOTHER AND MORE UNIFORM FLOW OF TRAFFIC AS REFLECTED BY THE SPEEDS AND DENSITIES ON THE FREEWAY WITH NONE OF THE RAMPS CLOSED. CLOSING ANY ONE OF THE NORTHBOUND ON-RAMPS CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE TOTAL TRAVEL TIME IN VEHICLE- MINUTES WITHIN THE SYSTEM. THE OVERALL TRAVEL IN VEHICLE- MILES WAS NOT CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY BY CLOSING ANY ONE OF THE NORTHBOUND ON-RAMPS WITHIN THE SYSTEM. AS A RESULT OF THIS STUDY, IT WAS RECOMMENDED THAT THE FOURTEENTH STREET NORTHBOUND ON-RAMP BE CLOSED DURING THE AFTERNOON PEAK PERIOD FOR THREE MONTHS AND THAT FURTHER TESTS BE CARRIED OUT ON A SYSTEM BASIS TO DETERMINE IF THE FOURTEENTH STREET NORTHBOUND ON-RAMP SHOULD BE CLOSED DURING THE PEAK PERIOD ON A PERMANENT BASIS. /AUTHOR/
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Supplemental Notes:
- 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
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Authors:
- Covault, Donald O
- Roberts, Robert R
- Publication Date: 1963
Media Info
- Media Type: Print
- Features: Figures; References; Tables;
- Pagination: pp 32-47
- Monograph Title: Freeway operations
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Serial:
- Highway Research Record
- Issue Number: 21
- Publisher: Highway Research Board
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Analysis of variance; Arterial highways; Data collection; Freeways; On ramps; Peak hour traffic; Spacing; Speed and delay studies; Streets; Time lapse photography; Traffic density; Traffic flow; Traffic speed; Traffic volume; Travel time
- Geographic Terms: Atlanta (Georgia)
- Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00224746
- Record Type: Publication
- Files: TRIS, TRB
- Created Date: Sep 29 1994 12:00AM