FACTORS – TRAFFIC COMPOSITION

Directional Distribution

• Highways must be designed to serve the peak-hour traffic volume in the

peak direction of flow.

• Total hourly traffic in both directions is used to design two-lane roads

• Various measures to handle peak-hour flow

• Directional Traffic is used for multilane roads and streets. Typically, one
direction contributes by 55-70% in total traffic, although occasionally 80%
is observed. Lane Distribution Factor (DL) based upon lanes in one direction
Number of Lanes in One Direction DL
1 × Lane 100%
2 × Lanes 80% to 100%
3 × Lanes 60% to 80%
4 × Lanes 50% to 75%

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EXAMPLE – 1

Consider a rural road with a design volume of 4,000 vehicles per hour (vph) for
both directions of travel combined. If during the design hour, the directional
distribution is equally split. What would be vehicles per hour for equally split
condition, and 80% split condition. Consider capacity as 1,000 vphpl.

Solution:

Equally (50%) split case: 2,000 vph is in one direction,

So, two lanes in each direction would be adequate

80% split case: 3,200 vph is in one direction,

So, at least three lanes in each direction would be adequate

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 FACTORS – TRAFFIC COMPOSITION

Directional Distribution – Directional Design Hourly Volumes

DDHV- ADTs are converted to a peak-hour volume in the peak direction of

flow
DDHV  AADT * K ( Peakhr ) * D ( Peakdir  flow )

where:
• K = proportion of daily traffic occurring during peak hour

• D = proportion of peak hour traffic travelling in peak direction of flow

• For design, the K factor often represents the proportion of ADT occurring during the 30th peak
hour of the year

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EXAMPLE – 2

Example Consider the case of a rural highway that has a 20-year forecast of
AADT of 30,000 veh/day, for given highway, the K factor ranges from 0.15 to
0.25, and the D factor ranges from 0.65-0.80.

Solution:
DDHV  AADT * K ( Peakhr ) * D ( Peakdir  flow )
DDHV (low )  30 ,000 * .15 * .65  2,925 veh / h
DDHV ( high )  30 ,000 * .25 * .80  6,000 veh / h

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 FACTORS – TRAFFIC COMPOSITION

Composition of Traffic –Traffic Mix

Vehicles operating characteristics:

• Sizes

• Weight

• Speed

• Space consumed on highway

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DESIGN CONROLS
DESIGN PERIOD & GROWTH RATE

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 FACTORS – DESIGN PERIOD &
GROWTH RATE
Projection of Future Traffic Demands

• Geometric design based on future traffic volumes

• Defining life of highway / Life-cycle

• Physical life expectancies:

• right-of-way and grading - 100 years,
• minor drains - 50 years,
• bridges - 25-100 years,
• pavement - 10-30 years.

• The time horizon of traffic projection depends on uncertainty of predictions

• Period of 20 years is widely used as a basis for design

• Period of 5-10 years is used if predicting traffic is difficult

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DESIGN CONROLS
DESIGN SPEED

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 FACTORS – SPEED

Average speed

• Time-mean speed

• Space-mean speed

• Operating Speed

• Spot speed

• Journey speed

• Running speed

• 85th Percentile Speed: is often used for traffic engineering. The speed at or
below which 85 percent of a sample of free flowing vehicles is travelling.

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FACTORS – SPEED

Design Speed Important Considerations

• Should be consistent with drivers' expectations

• Should fit the traffic habits of nearly all drivers

• Should not change over a substantial length of highway

• Depends on the functional class

• Ranges from 30 km/h to 110 km/h with 10 km/h increment

The 85%ile speed for which the highway is designed is known as the
“Design Speed”.

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 FACTORS – DESIGN SPEED UNDER
DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF
ROADWAY
There is a degree of flexibility in the major controlling factor of design speed

(e.g., there are at least three different design speeds for each functional
classification.)

Source: Roadway Design Manual, Virginia DOT, 1995.

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FACTORS – SPEED

• It forms the basis for the steps in “Design Speed” that are available to the
designer i.e. 120kph, 100kph, 85kph, 70kph, 60kph, 50kph.

• It help in structuring Design Speed Steps.

• This is particularly important when considering the provision of geometry that is
below the desirable minimum standard.

• Factors Affecting Speed

• Alignment Constraint (Ac)

• Layout Constraint (Lc)

• Mandatory Speed Limits

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 FACTORS – SPEED

• Two (2) hierarchy levels

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FACTORS – SPEED

Alignment Constraint (Ac) The degree of constraint imparted by the road

alignment (measured in kilometers per hour)

• When designing a new road, there will be constraints to its alignment.

• Nature: lakes, rivers, woodland, special environmental sites or simply the natural
topography of the land
• Man-made: towns, villages, larger conurbations or the existing transport network.

• These are likely to force the introduction of bends into the alignment as
the best means of avoidance.

• The extent and severity of this bends will serve to reduce the design
speed.

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 FACTORS – SPEED

• Alignment Constraint (Ac) is obtained through one of two calculations depending on whether the road
is a single carriageway or a dual carriageway.

Equation 1 (for dual carriageways): 𝐴 6.6

Equation 2 (for single carriageways): 𝐴 12

where:
• B = Bends (Degrees per km – Over a minimum length of about 2km)
• VISI = Harmonic Mean Visibility (m)

• Bends – The concept of bendiness can be explained by analyzing the alignment of two highways
running b/w the same two points.
• The angle θ denotes the change in direction of a vehicle caused by travelling around a single bend in the road.
• The angle θ must be derived for each bend in the highway alignment.
• The sum of these angles θ divided by the length of highway assessed is the bendiness.

• For single carriageways, the calculation of Ac requires the value of Harmonic Mean Visibility (VISI) to
be obtained. The method for determining the value of VISI is detailed in TD9/93, DMRB (Annex A).

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FACTORS – SPEED

• Example

• Layout Constraint (Lc)

The effect of highway layout on design speed can be attributed to three factors:
• Carriageway width
• The degree of access and junction
• Verge width

• Carriageway width:
• With carriageway width decreases, so does the design speed and this is largely because the
opportunity for overtaking reduces as the number of traffic lanes decreases.

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 FACTORS – SPEED

• The Degree of Access and Junctions:

In terms of layout constraint, accesses and junctions are defined as laybys, commercial
accesses and any junction with the route under consideration.
It can be categorized as either low, medium or high in terms of their frequency where:
Low = 2 to 5 per km, Medium = 6 to 8 per km, High = 9 to 12 per km

• Verge width:
The width of the verge is an essential component of the highway cross-section and provides
space for drainage, communications equipment and signage, as well as providing a safety
margin for vehicles/motorists in case of emergency.
• Local roads: It offers an area to accommodate footways, cycle facilities and other dedicated
facilities to improve safety and convenience.
• Motorways/Arterials: Strand motorists may use the verge on foot to reach the emergency
telephones or await the arrival of a rescue vehicle.

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FACTORS – SPEED

• Mandatory Speed Limit:

• Mandatory speed limits can be used to restrict speeds for specific
purposes on roads that would otherwise have higher design speeds.
• Examples where this would be appropriate include;
• roads in towns and other built up areas,
• stretches of road with particularly poor accident records,
• approaches to junctions,
• roads that front schools or similar facilities that experience congestion at
particular times of the day, and
• alleviation of motorway congestion.

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 FACTORS – SPEED

Notes:

• Radial Route:

It is a public transport route linking a central point in a city or town, usually in

the central business district (CBD), with a suburb (or satellite) of that city or town. It
connects areas of urban arterial with the urban connectors.

• Verge:

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DESIGN CONROLS
HIGHWAY CAPACITY

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