MODIFYING FREEWAY GEOMETRICS TO INCREASE CAPACITY

Every sector of urban transportation faces the problem of rising costs, limited funds, and depleting resources with which to provide for increasing travel demands. One approach to the solution is restriping the mainline pavement with narrower lane widths and encroaching on the shoulders to create an additional lane for travel. This technique has been applied successfully on local and arterial streets. However, only in the last 10 yrs have transportation departments considered similar changes to cross sections of urban freeways. This paper presents a "state-of-the-practice" as developed from a survey of the states. The designs for six general types of modifications are examined and specific results from 14 operational projects are summarized. The general consensus of the study is that surface modifications are cost effective techniques for increasing freeway capacity. The modified freeways have improved safety records because of the increase in capacity, but accident severity may increase with time as traffic demands increase.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/8674831
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • McCasland, W R
• Publication Date: 1980-11

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 787-801
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transportation Engineering
  • Volume: 106
  • Issue Number: 6
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0733-947X
  • Serial URL: https://ascelibrary.org/journal/jtepbs

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: City planning; Crash severity; Freeways; Geometric design; Highway capacity; Highway design; Highway transportation; Highways; Planning; Road shoulders; Roads; State of the art studies; Traffic crashes; Traffic lanes; Traffic safety; Transportation; Urban highways
• Old TRIS Terms: Highway systems; Lanes
• Subject Areas: Design; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00324997
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Apr 15 1981 12:00AM