Comparison of the new W-interchange with conventional interchanges Thompson, Cipriana D ; Hummer, Joseph E ; Kluckman, Roger C
Publication details: Transportation Research Record, 2003Description: nr 1847, s. 42-51Subject(s): Bibl.nr: VTI P8169:2003 Ref ; VTI P8167Location: Abstract: Congestion is a problem at many urban interchanges, particularly at diamond interchanges. A new interchange design, called the W-interchange, seeks to reduce congestion at a reasonable cost. Similar to the Michigan urban diamond interchange (MUDI), which uses U-turn structures, the W-interchange attempts to reduce delay by eliminating the left-turn movements onto and off of the cross street. The new W-interchange was compared with other, more commonly used designs for freeway-to-arterial interchanges, specifically the diamond interchange, the single point urban interchange (SPUI), and the MUDI. A major portion of the effort was a comparison of the travel times and stops across a range of traffic demands using a microscopic traffic simulation package. The results from the simulations indicated that the W-interchange minimized the number of stops and produced an overall travel time that was lower than the diamond interchange and comparable with the MUDI. The W-interchange had lower travel times than the SPUI for a few of the cases simulated, but generally the SPUI had lower travel times. A design of the W-interchange was created to estimate its construction and right-of-way cost. At about $14 million, the W-interchange costs about $4 million more than the SPUI and about $6 million more than the diamond interchange. Overall, the W-interchange performed well enough in the simulations and has enough other advantages to justify further research in the areas of cost, signing and marking, continuous frontage road operation, and a possible freeway-to-freeway design.Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
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Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut | Available |
Congestion is a problem at many urban interchanges, particularly at diamond interchanges. A new interchange design, called the W-interchange, seeks to reduce congestion at a reasonable cost. Similar to the Michigan urban diamond interchange (MUDI), which uses U-turn structures, the W-interchange attempts to reduce delay by eliminating the left-turn movements onto and off of the cross street. The new W-interchange was compared with other, more commonly used designs for freeway-to-arterial interchanges, specifically the diamond interchange, the single point urban interchange (SPUI), and the MUDI. A major portion of the effort was a comparison of the travel times and stops across a range of traffic demands using a microscopic traffic simulation package. The results from the simulations indicated that the W-interchange minimized the number of stops and produced an overall travel time that was lower than the diamond interchange and comparable with the MUDI. The W-interchange had lower travel times than the SPUI for a few of the cases simulated, but generally the SPUI had lower travel times. A design of the W-interchange was created to estimate its construction and right-of-way cost. At about $14 million, the W-interchange costs about $4 million more than the SPUI and about $6 million more than the diamond interchange. Overall, the W-interchange performed well enough in the simulations and has enough other advantages to justify further research in the areas of cost, signing and marking, continuous frontage road operation, and a possible freeway-to-freeway design.