Understanding Key Design Principles to consider for road Intersections.
Since Intersection design is an important task, it needs to be designed carefully after considering several factors.
Some of the main design principles are mentioned below-
1. Uniformity and Simplicity– Intersections must be designed and operated for simplicity and uniformity.
-The design must keep the capabilities and limitations of drivers, pedestrians, and vehicles using intersections.
-It should be based on a knowledge of what a driver will do rather than what he should do.
2. Minimize Conflict Points- any location having merging, diverging, or crossing maneuvers of two vehicles is a potential conflict point.
-The main objective of the intersection design is to minimize the number and severity of potential conflicts between various road users.
-This can be achieved by:
🎯 Space separation- by access control islands through channelizing
🎯 Time separation- by traffic signals on waiting lanes
3. Safety- The safety of a particular design can best be assessed by studying the frequency with which types of accidents occur at a particular type of intersection and its correlation with volume and type of traffic.
4. Alignment and Profile- The intersecting roads shall meet at or nearly at a right angle.
-However, angles above 60° do not warrant realignment.
-Intersection on sharp curves should be avoided because the superelevation and widening of pavement complicates the design.
-Grades above 3% should, therefore, be avoided on intersections while those above 6% should not be allowed.
5. Encourage low vehicle speeds on the approaches to right-angle intersections- Minor road vehicles intending to cut across major road traffic should approach the intersection slowly so that they can easily stop and give way to through traffic.
There are more design principles to consider depending on the site conditions and other factors.
These are general principles.
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Digital Marketing & Communications Manager at Gannett Fleming TranSystems
2mo🤩