Traffic Management and Road

Safety

By:
Pushpinder Singh
Assistant Professor
GNDEC, Ludhiana
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
➢ When two or more roads intersect each other, it is called Intersections or
Road Junction. This area is designated for the vehicles to turn to different
directions to reach their desired destinations.
➢ It is also a point of large number of major conflicts. These conflicts may be due to
the crossing maneuvers of vehicles moving in different directions.
➢ Factors to be considered in design of Intersections:
• Reduction in accident rates.
• Ensuring sufficient visibility for vehicles.
• Provision of adequate lighting during night.
• Installation of proper signs, guard rails and traffic islands.
• Proper provision of pedestrian, bicyclists and public transport users.
➢ Types: 1) At grade intersection 2) Grade separated intersection
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
At grade intersections
➢ Roads that cross each other at the same level or elevation are called At grade Intersections.
➢ Types of At grade intersections: 1) Unchannelized 2) Channelized
➢ Unchannelized Intersection: These are At-grade intersections without islands for directing
traffic into definite paths.
a. Square junction b. Skew junction or Acute junction
c. T- junction d. Y- junction
e. Multiple junction f. Staggered intersection
Unchannelized (all-paved) intersections are the lowest class of intersection, easiest in the design but
most complex in traffic operations resulting in maximum conflict area and more number of accidents,
unless controlled by traffic signals or police.

(A) (B)

(C) (D)
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
At grade intersections
➢ Channelized intersection: At these intersections islands are introduced to reduce the total
conflict area available. These islands are useful to channelize the turning traffic, to control
the speed and angle of approach.
➢ It reduces the number of possible conflicts by reducing the area of conflicts available in the
carriageway.
➢ The presence of traffic islands, markings etc. forces the driver to reduce the speed and becomes
more cautious while manoeuvring the intersection.
➢ It also serves as a refuge for pedestrians and makes pedestrian crossing safer.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Grade separated intersections
➢ Types of Grade separated intersection:
1) Grade separated intersections without interchange
2) Grade separated intersection with interchange
➢ Interchange is a system whereby facility is provided for movement of traffic between two or
more roadways at different levels in the grade separated junction.
➢ A structure without interchange is an over-bridge or underpass or flyover, whereby the traffic
at different levels moves separately without a provision for an interchange between them.
➢ Three-leg interchange: (1) T-interchange (2) Y-interchange ; (Trumpet interchange)
Four-leg interchange: (1) Diamond interchange (2) Half cloverleaf interchange (3) Cloverleaf
interchange (4) Rotary interchange (5) Directional interchange
Multileg-interchange: Rotary interchange
Trumpet interchange Diamond interchange

Full cloverleaf interchange

Rotary interchange Partial cloverleaf interchange
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections

Categories of Intersection
➢ Priority Intersection: Occur where one of the intersecting roads is given definite priority over
the other. The minor road will usually be controlled by some form of sing marking, such as stop
or yield sign; thus ensuring that priority vehicles travailing on the main street will incur
virtually no delay.
➢ Space sharing intersection: Are intended to permit fully equally priority and to permit
continuous movement for all intersecting vehicle flows; example would be rotaries and other
weaving areas.
➢ Time Sharing Intersection: Are those at which alternative flows are given the right of way at
different point in time. This type of intersection is controlled by traffic signal or by police
officer.
➢ Uncontrolled intersection: are the most common type of intersection usually occurs where the
intersecting roads are relatively equal importance and found in areas where there is not much
traffic.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Channelization
➢ Channelization - It is the separation or regulation of conflicting traffic movements into definite
paths of travel by traffic islands or pavement marking to facilitate the safe and orderly
movements of both vehicles and pedestrians.
➢ Conflict - It is defined as the demand for the same highway space by two or more users of the
highway. Conflicts are classified into mainly three types:
• Crossing conflicts
• Diverging conflicts
• Merging conflicts
➢ Angle of Intersection - The angle of intersection is that formed by the centerlines of the
intersecting streets. Where the angle of intersection departs significantly (more than
approximately 20o) from right angles, the intersection is referred to as a skewed intersection.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Channelization
➢ Objectives of Channelization ➢ Design principles for channelization
• Separation of maneuver areas • Reduction of the Area of Conflict
• Control of maneuver angle • Merging traffic streams at small angles
• Control of speed • Reduction of the speed of incoming traffic
by bending its path
• Protection and storage of turning and
crossing vehicles • Reduction of speed of traffic by funneling
• Blockage of prohibited movements • Protection for turning vehicles/crossing
conflicting traffic streams
• Provide space for traffic control devices
• Discourage prohibited turns by island
• Protection of pedestrians and reduction of placement and shape
crossing distances between refuses
• Etc.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Rotary Intersection
➢ Rotary intersections or round abouts are special form of at-grade intersections laid out for
the movement of traffic in one direction around a central traffic island.
➢ All the major conflicts at an intersection namely the collision between through and right-
turn movements are converted into milder conflicts namely merging and diverging.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Rotary Intersection
➢ Advantages of a rotary intersection:
• Traffic flow is regulated to only one direction of movement, thus eliminating severe
conflicts between crossing movements.
• All the vehicles entering the rotary are gently forced to reduce the speed and continue to
move at slower speed. Thus, none of the vehicles need to be stopped, unlike in a
signalized intersection.
• Because of lower speed of negotiation and elimination of severe conflicts, accidents
and their severity are much less in rotaries.
• Rotaries are self governing and do not need practically any control by police or traffic
signals.
• They are ideally suited for moderate traffic, especially with irregular geometry, or
intersections with more than three or four approaches.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Rotary Intersection

➢ Disadvantages of a rotary intersection:

• All the vehicles are forced to slow down and negotiate the intersection. Therefore,
the cumulative delay will be much higher than channelized intersection.
• Even when there is relatively low traffic, the vehicles are forced to reduce their
speed.
• Rotaries require large area of relatively flat land making them costly at urban
areas.
• The vehicles do not usually stop at a rotary. They accelerate and exit the rotary at
relatively high speed. Therefore, they are not suitable when there is high
pedestrian movements.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Rotary Intersection
➢ Guidelines for the selection of rotaries:
Because of the above limitation, rotaries are not suitable for every location. There are
few guidelines that help in deciding the suitability of a rotary. They are listed below.
• Rotaries are suitable when the traffic entering from all the four approaches are
relatively equal.
• A total volume of about 3000 vehicles per hour can be considered as the upper
limiting case and a volume of 500 vehicles per hour is the lower limit.
• A rotary is very beneficial when the proportion of the right-turn traffic is very
high; typically if it is more than 30 percent.
• Rotaries are suitable when there are more than four approaches or if there is no
separate lanes available for right-turn traffic. Rotaries are ideally suited if the
intersection geometry is complex.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Rotary Intersection
➢ Traffic operations in a rotary:
• Diverging: It is a traffic operation
when the vehicles moving in one
direction is separated into different
streams according to their
destinations.
• Merging: Merging is the opposite
of diverging. Merging is referred
to as the process of joining the
traffic coming from different
approaches and going to a common
destination into a single stream.
• Weaving: Weaving is the
combined movement of both
merging and diverging movements
in the same direction.
 Traffic Control Devices: Road Intersections
Design guidelines for Rotary Intersection

➢ Design elements:
• The design elements include
design speed, radius at entry,
exit and the central island,
weaving length and width,
entry and exit widths.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZwDpZIiJYjU1
Mo53kBSFXO2nnWEAPgpj/view?usp=sharing

• Capacity of the rotary can also

be determined by using some
empirical formula.