SIMAD UNIVERSITY
MULTILANE HIGHWAYS (MLH)
How is Multilane
Highways
different from
Freeways ?
i. Vehicles may enter/leave at intersections,
driveways, median at selected points
~ “access points”.
ii. Traffic signals may be located on MLH
iii. General design standard tend to be lower
iv. Visual setting & developed frontage have more impact
on drivers
v. Generally, have posted speed limits of 60 to 90 km/h.
vi. Usually have a total of 4 or 6 lanes in both directions
vii. Often divided with medians or Two-Way Left-Turn
Lane (TWLTL)
viii. Also, may be undivided (including striped median).
Speed-Flow Relationships
2,200
Factors Affecting Free-Flow Speed
I. Lane Width & Lateral Clearance
II. Median Type (typically 3 types)
i) Medians ~ striped centerline (undivided)
ii) TWLTL medians ~ full-width lane (divided)
iii) Medians of raised kerb, barrier or
landscaping (divided)
III. Access Points
Median striped centreline ~ undivided
TWLTL ~ divided
Raised kerb or physical island ~ divided
Ideal Conditions
i. Level terrain, grades < 2%
ii. 3.6 m lane width
iii. 3.6 m total lateral clearance (LCL+LCR)
iv. No direct access points along roadway
v. Divided highway
vi. All passenger cars
vii. Free-flow speed ≥ 100 km/h
Methodology
A. Operational analysis
~ known present or projected
~ all geometric & traffic variables specified
Result? Speed, Density, LOS
B. Planning and Design analysis
~ AADT / forecast demand volume
Result? Nos. of lanes needed for desired LOS
Prediction of LOS?
3 STEPS
STEP : 1
Determine Free- Flow Speed
❑ Have field speed ? Use directly
❖ No measured field speed?
Then, Estimate
FFS = BFFS – fLW – fLC – fM – fA
Where:
BFFS = base FFS (km/h);
FFS = estimated FFS (km/h);
fLW = adjustment for lane width, Exhibit 21-4 (km/h);
fLC = adjustment for lateral clearance, Exhibit 21-5 (km/h);
fM = adjustment for median type, Exhibit 21-6 (km/h);
fA = adjustment for access points, Exhibit 21-7 (km/h).
Base FFS
Recent research suggests that BFFS on multilane
highways is approximately:
~ 11 km/h higher than the 65 & 70 km/h speed limits,
~ 8 km/h higher for 80 & 90 km/h speed limits.
~ 3 km/h less than 85th-percentile speed.
Adjustment for Lane Width
• Base conditions for multilane highways require 3.6-m lane
widths.
• Exhibit 21-4 presents the adjustment to modify the estimated
FFS to account for narrower lanes.
• Lane widths greater than 3.6 m are considered 3.6 m.
• There are no research data for lane widths < 3.0 m
Adjustment for Lateral
Clearance
TLC = LCL + LCR
where:
TLC = total lateral clearance (m)
LCL = left lateral clearance (m)
LCR = right lateral clearance (m)
• For undivided roadways, there is no adjustment for left-side
lateral clearance. The undivided design is taken into account by the
median adjustment.
• To use Exhibit 21-5 for undivided highways, the left lateral
clearance (LCL) is always 1.8 m.
• LC in median of roadways with TWLTLs considered to be 1.8 m.
Median Type
Adjustment for Access-Point Density
Exhibit 21-7 presents the adjustment to FFS for various
levels of access-pt. density.
Access-pt. density on divided roadway?
(total nos. of access points, e.g. intersections & driveways
on the right side of roadway in the direction of travel)
(the segment’s total length in km)
Note:
i. Intersection or driveway should only be included if it
influences traffic flow.
ii. Access points unnoticed by driver or with little activity should
not be included in determining access-point density.
STEP : 2
Determine Flow Rate
V
vp = ---------------------------
N x PHF x fHV x fp
where:
vp = 15-min pce flow rate (pc/h/ln),
V = hourly volume (veh/h),
PHF = peak-hour factor, N
= number of lanes,
fHV = heavy-vehicle adjustment factor,
fp = driver population factor.
Heavy-Vehicle Adjustments
1
f =
HV
------------------------------------
- 1 + PT (ET – 1) + PR (ER –
where
1)
• ET & ER = pce for trucks/buses & for RVs;
• PT & PR = proportion of trucks/buses, & RVs
• fHV = adjustment factor for heavy vehicles.
STEP : 3
Determine LOS
(i) LOS on MLH can be determined directly from
Exhibit 21-3 on basis of FFS & vp
ii) Determine the density
D = vp / S
where:
D = density (pc/km/ln),
vp = flow rate (pc/h/ln), and
S = average pc travel speed (km/h).
LOS determined from computed density in
Exhibit 21-2
Segmenting the Roadway
• Procedures are best applied to homogeneous
segments of roadway, for which the variables
affecting travel speeds are constant.
• Therefore, it is often necessary for the analyst
to divide a section of highway into separate
segments for analysis.
• The following conditions generally necessitate
segmenting the highway:
– change in basic nos. of lanes
– change in median treatment
– change of grade of ≥ 2% or
a constant upgrade > 1,200 m
– presence of traffic signal
– significant change in density of access pts
– different speed limits
MULTILANE HIGHWAYS
Applications
Application 1
The Highway A 900-m segment of undivided four-lane
highway is along 2.5 percent grade.
The Question What are peak-hour LOS, speed, and
density of traffic of the upgrade and downgrade
segment along this 2.5 percent grade? Does this
operation still meet the minimum required LOS D?
The Facts
√ 74-km/h field-measured FFS,
√ 3.4-m lane width,
√ 1,900-veh/h peak-hour directional volume,
√ 13 percent trucks/buses,
√ 2 percent RVs,
√ 0.90 PHF.
Upgrade 2.5% :
Exh. 21-9: ET =
Exh. 21-10 : ERV 1.5
=
3.0
D = 1,166/74 = 15.8 pc/km/ln
Exh. 21.2 : LOS C
APPLICATION 2
The Highway A 1570-m segment of a five-lane highway with two
travel lanes in each direction (eastbound/westbound) is separated
by a two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL). This segment of a highway is
on a level terrain.
• The Question What is the LOS of the highway during the peak
hour for each direction?
• The Facts
√ Level terrain,
√ 85th-percentile speed of 83.0-km/h
√ 3.6-m lane width,
√ 1,500-veh/h peak-hour directional volume,
√ 6 percent trucks/buses, 0 percent RVs,
√ 0.90 PHF,
√ 8 access points/km (westbound),
√ 6 access points/km (eastbound),
√ 3.6-m total lateral clearance for westbound/eastbound,
√ BFFS is 3.0 km/h less than 85th-percentile speed.
BFFS = 83.0 – 3.0 = 80.0 km/h
Exh.
21.2
APPLICATION 3
The Highway A new 3.2-km segment of multilane highway
with right-of-way (ROW) width of 27.4 m.
The Question What is the cross section required to meet the
design criterion of LOS D? What is the expected travel
speed for passenger cars?
• The Facts
√ 60,000 annual average daily traffic,
√ Peak-hour traffic has 55/45 directional split,
√ Peak-hr vol. is 10 % of daily traffic,
√ 5 percent trucks √ 0.90 PHF.
√ 80.0-km/h speed limit, √ 6 access points/km,
√ Rolling terrain,
Assume BFFS is 8.0 km/h greater than posted speed.
BFFS = 80.0 + 8.0 = 88.0 km/h
DDHV = AADT * K * D
DDHV = 60,000 * 0.10 * 0.55 = 3,300 veh/h
Exh. 21.8, ET = 2.5
fHV = 1 / [1 + 0.05(2.5 -1) + 0] = 0.93
Exh. 21.4, 21.5, 21.6, 21.7
FFS = BFFS – fLW – fLC – fA – fM
FFS = 88.0 - 0.0 – 0.0 - 4.0 – 0.0 = 84.0 km/h
FFS=84 km/h, LOS D, Exh. 21.2, Vp = 1767 pc/h/ln
Vp = V / PHF * N * fHV * fP
1767 = 3300 / 0.9 * N * 0.93 * 1
N = 3300 / 1479 = 2.2 = 3 lanes per direction
If divided median ~ TWLT lane = 3.6 m
Lane width = 3.6 m
Left shoulder clearance = 1.8 m
Total required width = 3.6 + [6*3.6] + [2*1.8]
= 28.8 m > 27.4 m (R.O.W.) ~ not OK
If divided median ~ physical island = 1.0 m
Lane width = 3.6 m
Shoulder clearance = 1.8 m
Left lateral clearance = 0.6 m
Total required width = 1.0 + [6*3.6] + [2*1.8] + [2*0.6]
= 27.4 m = 27.4 m (R.O.W.) ~ OK
Exh. 21.4, 21.5, 21.6, 21.7
FFS = BFFS – fLW – fLC – fA – fM
FFS = 88.0 - 0.0 – 1.5 - 4.0 – 0.0 = 82.5 = 82 km/h
Vp = V / PHF * N * fHV * fP
Vp = 3300 / 0.9 * 3 * 0.93 * 1 = 1314 pc/h/ln
D = V / FFS = 1314 / 82 = 16.02 pc/km/ln
Exh. 21.2, LOS D
EXERCISE
A new 10 km long multilane highway with right-of-way width
25m will be designed to by passed Town X at a generally level
terrain. It is expected that the annual average daily traffic is
48,000. The peak-hour volume is 12% of daily traffic with
directional split of 60/40. Other information for the proposed
multilane highway was given below: -