Measures to Alleviate Congestion at Rural Intersections - Case Study: Intersection of State Highway 55, Banks-Lowman Road, and Banks-Grade Way

Many rural highways experience a surge in traffic flow levels on certain “high-travel” days during national holidays. Due to the platooned nature of the high volume traffic on the main highway, vehicles on the minor approach attempting to turn to the major highway are subjected to excessive delays. This research focuses on alternative intersection treatments to alleviate congestion at rural intersections during increased traffic volume on high-travel days. Specifically, the case study the authors investigated is the intersection of State Highway 55 (SH55), Banks-Lowman Road, and Banks-Grade Way. The high hourly traffic volume on SH55 during Memorial Day, Independence Day, and other summer weekends causes excessive delay for vehicles on the Banks-Lowman Road. Traffic flow trends for the intersection were obtained from data collected from several Automatic Traffic Recorders (ATR) continuously monitoring traffic near the intersection. In addition, field data was collected at the intersection during the 2014 Memorial Day and Independence Day weekends. The results of the study showed that signalization of the intersection along with some geometry alternation are the recommended treatments to alleviate the congestion and provide safe, efficient movement for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic at this intersection.

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• Record URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/28904
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Idaho, Moscow

  National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
  115 Engineering Physics Building
  Moscow, ID  United States  83844-0901

  Idaho Transportation Department

  Division of Engineering Services, Contracting Services, Research Program
  P.O. Box 7129
  Boise, ID  United States  83707-7129

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Dixon, Michael P
  • Abdel-Rahim, Ahmed
  • 0000-0001-9756-554X
  • Bacon, Christopher J
  • Gonzalez, Angel
• Publication Date: 2015-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 52p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Case studies; Highway design; Holidays; Intersections; Rural highways; Signalization; Traffic congestion; Traffic flow
• Geographic Terms: Idaho
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01567345
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-ID-15-242, NIATT-N14-12
• Contract Numbers: RP 242
• Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 26 2015 1:41PM