At Grade Intersection Design

At Grade Intersection Design

Learning objective: Demonstrate the concepts and importance of at grade intersection Demonstrate the geometric standard of at grade intersection Learning outcome: At the end of this lecture, successful students will be able to: Recognize types of at grade intersection Identify types of design controls Recognize the geometric standard of at grade intersection based on Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 1.0 Introduction Intersections are an important part of the road system. Their capacity controls the volume of traffic within the network system. The term intersection refers to both intersection and junction, that is, where two or more roads cross or meet. Each of these can be further classified as elemental or multiple. Elemental manoeuvre occurs when any two one-way, single lane movements interact. Multiple manoeuvre occurs when more than two one-way single lane movements take place. Multiple manoeuvre should be avoided as they confuse drivers, reduce safety and often reduce capacity.

2.0

Types of At Grade Intersection An intersection at grade occurs where roads meet or intersect at the same level. The following are three basic types of at grade intersections: a) Unchannelised and Unflared Intersections They are normally adequate where minor roads meet. In urban areas, many local street intersections remain unchannelised for economic reasons.

At Grade Intersection Design

Traffic can be controlled by signals or regulatory signs, such as STOP or GIVE WAY signs on the minor roads. Regulatory signs are however not a substitute for channelisation.

b) Flared Intersections A flared intersection is a simple unchannelised intersection with additional through lanes or auxiliary lanes, such as speed change or right turn lanes. Speed change lanes allow left or right turning vehicles to reduce or increase speed when leaving or entering the through road without adversely affecting the speed of the through traffic. Right turn lanes permit through vehicles to pass on the left side of another vehicle waiting to complete a right turn of an intersection.

c) Channelised Intersections A channelised intersection is one where paths of travel for various movements are separated and delineated. Raised traffic islands, raised markers and painted markings can be used for channelisation. A roundabout is a channelised intersection where traffic moves clockwise around a central island.

3.0

Factors Influencing Design At grade intersections present a driver with several points of conflict with other vehicles. The aims of intersection design are to improve traffic flow and reduce the likelihood of accidents. The principal factors influencing the design of an intersection are: a) Traffic Volume and Characteristics An intersection should accommodate the design peak traffic volume with comfort and safety.

At Grade Intersection Design

Consideration should be given to operating speeds and turning path requirements at the intersection, the type of traffic control, safety aspects and the needs of pedestrians, buses and commercial vehicles.

b) Topography and Environment The location and design of an intersection will be affected by many factors including the alignment and grade of the approach roads, the need to provide drainage, the extent of interference with public utilities, proper access and the presence of local features, both man-made and natural. c) Economics Variation to existing intersections should be justified by commensurate benefits to traffic.

d) Human Factors In an intersection design, driver characteristics as follows should be considered. i) Drivers tend to act according to habit. ii) Drivers may become confused when surprised. These factors make it essential that a driver: i) is made aware of the presence of an intersection; ii) is aware of the vehicles within and approaching the intersection; iii) has confidence in the course required to negotiate the intersection correctly and safely; iv) encounters uniformity in the application or traffic engineering devices and procedures; v) is allowed adequate reaction and decision time (three seconds between decisions is a desirable minimum).

4.0

Safety Safety is a prime consideration in any intersection design. Safe intersection design is based on the following principles:

At Grade Intersection Design

a) Reduction of the number of points of conflict. b) Minimising the area of conflict. c) Separation of points of conflict. d) Giving preference to major movements. e) Control of speed. f) Provision of refuge areas, traffic control devices and adequate capacity. g) Definition of paths to be followed.

5.0

Location of Intersection The efficiency of major roads, in terms of capacity, speed and safety depends greatly upon the number, type and spacing of intersections and median openings. Intersection shall not be located at sharp horizontal curves, steep grades or at the top of crest vertical curves or at the bottom of sag vertical curves. Table 5.1 gives the desirable minimum spacing of intersections for the various categories of the major roads.

Table 5.1: Desirable Minimum Spacing of Intersections Area Category of Major Road Expressway Highway Rural Primary Secondary Minor Expressway Urban Arterial Collector Local Street Notes: V= Design speed in km/h n = Number of through lane in one direction Source: Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 Spacing (m) 3000 V x 20 V x 10 Vx5 Vx3 1500 Vx3xn Vx2xn V x 1.5 x n

At Grade Intersection Design

6.0 6.1

Design Controls Priority Control All intersections shall be designed under the assumption that one of the intersecting roads has priority except where the intersection is signalised. The priority road will normally be road of higher design standard. If the two roads are of the same standard, then the priority road shall be the road with highest traffic volume. In T junctions and staggered junctions (which may be considered as two T junctions), the priority road shall be the through road. The two roads of the intersections are normally referred as the major road (priority road) and the minor road.

6.2

Design Speed The design speed on the major road through the intersection should be similar to that on the open section. However, all at grade intersections are not considered safe at design speed exceeding 90 km/h. For design speed exceeding 90 km/h, preference should be made to upgrade the at grade intersection to an interchange or alternatively, speed limit at the intersection should be introduced.

6.3

Design Vehicles The design of the various intersection layouts should be made for the design vehicles P, SU or WB-50. Table 6.1 shows a general scheme to select the design vehicle according to the category of road. i) P design This design is used at intersection where absolute minimum turns are stipulated such as at local street intersections, intersections of two minor roads carrying low volumes or on major roads where turns are made only occasionally.

At Grade Intersection Design

ii) SU design This design is the recommended minimum for all roads. For major highways with important turning movements, which involve a large percentage of trucks, speed change lanes should be considered. iii) WB-50 design This design should be used where truck combinations will make turning movements repeatedly. Where designs for such vehicle are warranted, the simpler symmetrical arrangements of three-centred compound curves are preferred if smaller vehicles make up a sizable percentage of the turning volume. It is also desirable to provide for channelisation to reduce the paved area.

Table 6.1: Design Vehicles for Intersection Design Area Category of Road Expressway Highway Rural Primary Secondary Minor Expressway Urban Arterial Collector Local Street Source: Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87 SU SU / P SU SU / P WB-50 WB-50 Design Vehicles

6.4

Selection of Intersection Type The fundamental factor which decides the type of intersection is traffic volume. Other factors such as class of road, lane configuration should also be taken into account, especially when the traffic volume falls near the boundary of the applicable range. Factors other than traffic volume, such as heavy pedestrian volume, frequent accident occurrence may demand signalisation.

At Grade Intersection Design

The controlled priority of an at grade intersection will normally provide adequate capacity for the traffic flows expected in most intersections. When the predicted traffic flows exceed the capacity, other types of intersection have to be introduced. These are:

a) Roundabouts Roundabouts may be applicable for total traffic volume (sum of all directions) of up to 6000 vehicles/hour and may if the layout can be freely chosen, be designed to cater for any distribution of turning traffic. The major disadvantage of roundabouts is that the speed through the roundabout is reduced because of the obstruction caused by the central island. Moreover, they require larger land space and capacity according to the demand of each approach cannot be reliably assigned. When the traffic is exceeded, they also tend to lock up traffic. As such, roundabouts cater well only for situation where the approaches have similar level of traffic flow. In general, roundabouts are not encouraged and should only be provided where there is problem in power supply to traffic signals.

b) Signal Controlled Intersections Signal controlled intersections are applicable to very high traffic volume of 8000 vehicles/hour or more provided that the necessary numbers of approach lanes are present and that there is no interference from other nearby intersections. Traffic signals require reliable electricity supply for their operation. Hence, traffic signals are limited only to the developed areas. The most economic solution may often be the selection of a priority controlled intersection initially, which is prepared for traffic control and to add in the traffic signals at a later stage. Signal controlled intersections can handle heavy traffic with adequate numbers of approach lanes. However, this requires longer clearance time for vehicles to cross the wide road, leading to less effectiveness in the handling of traffic.

At Grade Intersection Design

c) Grade Separated Intersections (Interchanges) Interchanges serve very high traffic volume with very little interference to the through traffic. They must be provided for all full access controlled roads and should be considered for road with design speed exceeding 90 km/hr. Grade separation is also recommended if each of the road crossing has four through lanes or more.

7.0 7.1

Geometric Standards General Geometric standards are required to provide an acceptable level of traffic operations and should be applied to new junctions and where possible, to junctions being improved upon. It is recognised, however, that site limitations may sometimes make it impossible to improve existing junctions to the standards recommended. In such cases, the best possible sight distances and proper traffic control devices should be provided.

7.2

Horizontal Alignment The desirable intersection angle between two roads is between 70o and 90o.

7.3

Staggered T Junctions A four-way intersection has considerably more traffic conflict points than two three-way junctions and allows higher operating speed on the minor road. Signalised four-way intersections especially in rural areas should generally be avoided or eliminated. Two staggered T junctions can take place of one four-way intersection. However, where large volume or crossing traffic occurs, a four-way signalised intersection may be better than staggered T junctions.

7.4

Vertical Alignment It is desirable to avoid substantial grade changes at intersections. At all intersections where there are GIVE WAY signs, STOP signs or traffic signals, the gradients of the intersecting roads should be as flat as practicable so that these

At Grade Intersection Design

sections can be used as storage space for vehicles stopping at the intersection. Grades in excess of 3% should be avoided on intersecting highways.

7.5

Sight Distance The operator of a vehicle approaching an intersection at grade should have an unobstructed view of the whole intersection and a length of the intersecting road sufficient to permit control of the vehicle to avoid collision. All intersections must be either stop or signalled controlled.

7.6 7.6.1

Pavement Tapers General Pavement tapers are used at the following places: a) the ends of acceleration and deceleration lanes provided for left and right turn manoeuvres. b) the ends of widened carriageway or dual carriageways to assist the merging and diverging of through traffic manoeuvres.

7.6.2

Design Principles The following are the general design principles on pavement tapers: a) Pavement tapers for diverging movements should provide for a rate of lateral movement of 0.9 meter per second. b) For merging movements, they should provide for a rate of lateral movement of 0.6 meter per second. c) Care must be exercised in designing diverging tapers to ensure that through traffic is not led into an auxiliary lane in error. d) Care must be exercised with the location design of all merging tapers to ensure that there is sufficient sight distance for the approaching driver to realise the existence and geometry of the merge. e) Diverging and merging tapers should be designed to encourage low relative speed manoeuvres.

At Grade Intersection Design

7.6.3

Taper Length The minimum lengths of pavement taper for diverging and merging movements can be computed by the formula

Td =

V Yd 3.6 0.9

Tm =

V Ym 3.6 0.6

where Td = Minimum length of pavement taper for diverging movements (m) Tm = Minimum length of pavement taper for merging movements (m) Yd = Lateral deflection of diverging traffic (m) Ym = Lateral deflection of merging traffic (m) 7.6.4 Auxiliary Lanes a) Deceleration Lanes Length of deceleration lanes are as shown in Table 7.1.

Table 7.1: Length of Deceleration Lanes Design Speed of Approach Road (km/h) 40 50 60 80 100 0* 45 60 80 120 170 Length of Deceleration Lane (m) (including length of taper approach) where design speed of exit curve (km/h) is 20 40 54 74 112 162 30 32 46 64 104 154 40 32 50 94 144 50 28 82 132 60 64 118 80 80

Source: Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87

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At Grade Intersection Design

In urban areas, it is desirable that traffic using the left-turn should flow continuously, if calculation indicates that a queue would form at the STOP line, a length of parallel lane long enough for the left-turn should be provided.

b) Acceleration Lanes In urban areas where the through and left-turn movements are expected to flow concurrently, there should be an area which enables the two streams of traffic to merge at a small angle. When the volume of merging traffic is low or where traffic signals are installed, this may be provided by a merging taper of length Tm at the exit of the left-turn. Where the volume of merging traffic is high and signals are not provided, a driver reaching the exit to the left-turn lane may not find any gap immediately available in the through traffic stream to permit merging. He/she should therefore be able to continue on a route parallel to the through traffic until a merging opportunity occurs or until he/she adjusts his speed to create any opportunity to merge. Length of acceleration lanes are shown in Table 7.2.

Table 7.2: Length of Acceleration Lanes Design Speed of Road Being Entered (km/h) 40 50 60 80 100 65 95 135 230 330 45 75 120 215 315 35 60 100 200 295 40 75 180 275 40 145 250 100 205 100 0* 20 30 40 50 60 80 Length of Acceleration Lane (m) (including length of pavement taper) where design speed of exit curve (km/h) is

Source: Arahan Teknik (Jalan) 11/87

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At Grade Intersection Design

7.7 7.7.1

Island General There are two types of islands pedestrian and traffic. Pedestrian islands provide refuge for people waiting for public transport or crossing wide streets. Traffic islands are divisional or channelisation islands.

7.7.2

Traffic Islands Traffic islands may be defined by pavement markings, kerbs or a combination of these. Traffic islands are used to: Separate opposing streams of traffic. Guide traffic away from and past fixed obstructions and other hazardous points. Reduce the area of conflicts and control the angles at which conflicts occur. Provide shelter for turning or crossing vehicles. Prohibit undesirable or unnecessary traffic movements. Control speed. Separate through and turning movements as well as define respective alignments. Provide for and protect traffic control devices.

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