Abstract This study evaluates a new approach for reducing delay, and consequently improving level of service and safety on long upgrades on two-lane rural roads. This is the systematic provision of overtaking lanes, termed passing-climbing lanes (PCL), to improve traffic flow, safety, and capacity. The traffic impact of such lanes is analyzed for various grades, traffic volumes, and lane configurations by means of a simulation model developed for this study. Results show that this concept could provide substantial flow benefits—reduction in delay and in passenger-car platooning—with implications for better safety. Although the reduction in delay is found to be more pronounced as volume increases, these results may be obtained even with a small percentage of passing-climbing lanes. A model predicting average relative delay, formulated and calibrated on the basis of the simulation output, explains 95% of the observed variability. The economic advantages of the concept in optimizing the distribution of a limited budget among several sites, in staging construction over several years, and in adapting highway investment to traffic-demand variations are also discussed.


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    Title :

    Impact of passing-climbing lanes on traffic flow on upgrades


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    1986-08-01


    Size :

    10 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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