| Title | Alternative Designs to Alleviate Freeway Bottlenecks at Merging, Diverging, and Weaving Areas |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 74882 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Hale, David K.; Ma, Jiaqi; Chiasi, Amir; Volet, Pascal; Cesme, Burak; Kondyli, Alexandra; Schroeder, Bastian J.; Sethi, Sonika; Torres, Laura; Belisle, Francois |
| Personal Name Contributor |
Bared, Joe G. |
| Corporate Creator | United States. Federal Highway Administration |
| Corporate Contributor |
Leidos, Inc. |
| Publisher | United States. Federal Highway Administration |
| Publication Date | 20200501 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | Alternative intersections and interchanges brought major benefits to the United States during the 2008–2018 time period. Given the positive impacts, it stands to reason that similar breakthroughs might be possible at freeway merge and diverge locations. This report describes the outcomes of a project that examined this possibility. The primary tool of evaluation was sensitivity analysis via microscopic traffic simulation, also known as microsimulation. The split merge design, and the positioning of managed lanes on the right side of the freeway, are two unrelated designs that showed excellent promise (in terms of benefit—cost ratio). Coordinated ramp metering did not show significant additional benefits beyond conventional asservissement lin’eaire d'entr’ee autorouti‘ere, also known as ALINEA, metering. Speed optimization showed excellent benefits but only during narrow ranges of traffic congestion. Mainline metering also showed reasonably good benefits but could be challenging to implement. It is conceivable that speed optimization and mainline metering could produce more favorable benefit—cost ratios if they could be implemented via connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies. However, the split merge and right-side managed lane designs produced excellent benefits without the need for CAV technologies. |
| Public Note | The Contracting Officer's Representative was Joe Bared (HRDO-20). |
| Rosap ID | dot:49716 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/49716 |
| TRT Terms | Merging control; Managed lanes; Mainline metering; Ramp metering; Interchanges and intersections; Bottlenecks |
| General Subjects | Split merge; Managed lanes; Mainline metering; Coordinated ramp metering; Speed optimization; Freeway merge |
| Geographical Coverage |
United States |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1742869 |
| Contract Number | DFTH6116D00030 |
| Report Number | FHWA-HRT-20-008 |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/74000/74800/74882/FHWA-HRT-20-008.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |