Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Horizontal Curves
Sight Distance
The radius of curvature determined from
consideration of frictional resistance and
superelevation may not be sufficient to provide
the required horizontal stopping sight distance.
Where it is not possible to remove obstructions
the road may need to be re-aligned to satisfy
the sight distance requirements for safety.
The sight distance required may lie wholly
within the horizontal curve or may be greater
than the length of curve available.
x
D
obstruction
E
l
A
M
l
A
C
M
B
B
R
TS
TS = TangentSpiral Intersection
Intersection
SC = Spiral-Curve Intersection
Tangent Intersection
CS = Curve-Spiral
ST = Spiral-
Ls = v3/CRc
= V3 (km/h) /3.63 CRc
= V3/47CRc
Recommended values of C range from
0.3 to 0.6 m/sec3.
Intersections
Intersections, which are places where
at least two roads meet, have a
considerable impact on road safety
and efficiency and their design should
aim to reduce the risk of accidents
and to maximize traffic speed and
flow.
Intersections can be separated into
two categories:
at-grade intersections
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections occur where roads meet
at the same level and intersections where
roads cross at different levels are defined as
grade-separated.
At-grade intersections
These can be further sub-divided into nonchannelized or channelized intersections. The
latter describes the separation of traffic,
through the use of raised traffic islands or
pavement markings, into streams, each of
which is confined to a single roadway channel.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Usually intersections are flared, i.e. more than
the normal carriageway width is provided at the
junction of the intersecting roads, to cater for
the traffic manoeuvres.
There are basically five (5) types of these
intersections and the basic manoeuvres involved
are merging, diverging and cutting which are
referred to as conflicts since the paths of (at
least) two vehicles or a vehicle and a pedestrian
can come into contact in legal manoeuvres.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Tee
Wye
Multi-way
Intersections (Contd)
main road flow
minor road
flow
Merging
Diverging
Cutting
Cutting and
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
On high speed, high volume roads acceleration and
deceleration lanes are provided at intersections and used
exclusively by vehicles entering and leaving the highway.
This is a safety feature as well as a means of facilitating
traffic flow on the main road.
Without deceleration lanes vehicles leaving the highway
would have to slow down in a high speed traffic lane, risking
collisions and reducing traffic flow.
Acceleration lanes enable vehicles entering the highway to
build up speed and where it is not possible to join the main
road because of heavy traffic, vehicles can remain on this
lane while awaiting gaps in the traffic stream. Both safety
and traffic flow are again enhanced.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
At priority intersections one (major) road takes
precedence over another (minor) road, as indicated
by road signs and markings.
Little or no delay should be caused to traffic on the
main/major road as the minor road traffic only
enters the major road when there are gaps in the
flow of traffic.
At uncontrolled intersections (no major/ minor
road) as occurs particularly in some rural and
residential areas with low traffic flows, priority is
assigned to the vehicle that first enters the
intersection.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
A signalized intersection has a traffic signal
installation comprising a controller, a traffic light
set which emits coloured lights (green, amber and
red) and usually also includes a sensor installed in
the carriageway.
A sensor is basically a coil of wire (inductor) and a
vehicle that passes over one will cause a change in
the inductance of the coil which will be detected by
the controller.
The lights respond to programmed instructions,
including a combination of timing and sensor data,
contained in the controller.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Traffic signals may be fixed-time or
vehicle- actuated.
Under fixed-time operations the traffic
signals
will display green to
each approach at the same time
every cycle regardless of the traffic
conditions.
This can only be adequate in heavily
congested areas.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Where a lightly trafficked side road is
one of the approaches, unnecessary
build up of traffic can occur on the
other roads in some cycles if there are
no vehicles waiting on the side road as
the time could be better allocated to a
busier approach.
The vehicle-actuated is the more
common mode of operation for traffic
signals as account is taken of the
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
While minimum and maximum green times are
specified in the controller, the flow of traffic is
registered through the sensor and processed by the
controller which then allocates the green time in
the most appropriate way, extending to the
maximum as required based on the number of
vehicles passing the detector.
Traffic lights at junctions with lightly trafficked side
streets may be programmed to turn green only
when a vehicle is detected. Pedestrian crossing
facilities within junctions often operate only when
actuated to ensure that traffic is only stopped when
a pedestrian is waiting to cross.
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Roundabouts comprise a central
island which is usually raised and
priority is given to circulating traffic,
so vehicles wishing to enter the
roundabout must wait for gaps in the
flow of traffic already in the
roundabout.
Roundabouts require vehicles to
merge on entry and diverge when
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Roundabout
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Roundabouts can be considered as a type of
channelized intersection as vehicles are
guided into a one-way traffic stream which
moves in a clockwise direction (Trinidad &
Tobago) around the central island.
Roundabouts are best suited to intersections
with four or more approach roads. Greater
land area is generally required when
compared to other at-grade intersections
handling the same volume of traffic. Costs
Intersections (Contd)
At-grade intersections (Contd)
Channelization, whereby traffic
streams are separated and each
stream is confined to a single
roadway, facilitates safety at
intersections as conflict areas and
angles are controlled and thereby
reduced.
While road markings are used to
direct traffic streams, raised islands
Intersections (Contd)
conflict
reduced conflict
area
better
angle
angle
of conflict
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections
Generally grade-separated intersections
have large initial costs when compared to
at-grade intersections but there are
circumstances when their use can be
justified.
Where two major heavily trafficked
highways are designed to cross, an atgrade intersection may be unable to handle
the volume of traffic safely and efficiently,
resulting in significant delays at the
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections
Existing, continuous traffic bottlenecks at
intersections at-grade and the resultant
economic losses can indicate that grade
separation is needed to provide the
increased capacity required.
Land use and topography can make a
grade-separated intersection a feasible
alternative as the earthworks, etc. required
for an at-grade intersection may be
expensive and the cost/value of any extra
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections may be
designed for roads to cross over each other
without any interconnection between them.
In urban and rural areas this type of
intersection is used to reduce delays and
conflicts and traffic is moved along to
strategic points where roadways are
connected.
Turning traffic is thereby restricted to a few
locations where adequate facilities can be
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections (Contd)
An interchange is a grade-separated
intersection where interconnecting
ramps are provided to allow
interchange of traffic between two or
more roads on different levels.
There are many types of interchanges,
ranging from 3-way (Tee/Trumpet or
Wye) to multi-way (more than four
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections
(Contd)
Examples of 4-way interchanges are the
Diamond and the Cloverleaf, so named
because of their appearance.
The Diamond consists of a single bridge
and four one way interconnecting ramps,
making it the simplest type of interchange.
It is used at the intersection of a major
highway and a local road and has the
advantage of needing a relatively narrow
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections
(Contd)
Traffic signals or other means of
control is generally required where the
ramps meet the minor road.
The Cloverleaf, which is often used at
the junction of two high speed, high
volume highways has eight ramps,
four of which are loop ramps which
handle the right turning movements
Intersections (Contd)
Grade-separated intersections (Contd)
There is only one bridge, but a relatively
large area of land is required for this type of
intersection as the loop ramps must go
through 270 degrees of rotation.
Larger radii for the loops allow higher
speeds and increased capacity as a result of
better traffic flow. While smaller loops
require less land area this comes at the
economic cost of slower speeds and reduced
capacity and may even be hazardous for
larger commercial vehicles.
Intersections (Contd)
Diamond
Cloverleaf
Highway Safety
Appurtenances
Median barriers
Median barriers are longitudinal
barriers used to separate opposing
directions of traffic on a divided
highway.
While these barriers may not reduce
the frequency of crashes they can
help to prevent a median crash from
becoming a crossover collision.
Median barriers must be designed to