Masters Theses

Date of Award

12-1990

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

Arun Chatterjee

Committee Members

Frederick J. Wegmann, Mary Sue Younger

Abstract

This research attempted to compare an arterial roadway with a two-way left-turn lane (TWLTL) with one with a non-traversable median (NTM, raised or depressed) with respect to operational efficiency reflected through delay examined by traffic under a variety of traffic and development situations. A three-way factorial design of experiment was developed, and the microscopic NETwork SIMulation software, NETSIM was used to generate information for the experiment. The expected differences in traffic delay and fuel consumption between TWLTL and NTM were quantified with the help of NETSIM. It was concluded that driveway density, traffic volume on the arterial, and the type of design (TWLTL or NTM) have significant effect on the performance measures such as networkwide delay, fuel consumption, and delay to left-turning traffic and through traffic on the arterial. At low driveway density and low traffic volume, the difference in networkwide delay between the two designs is not found to be significant. At higher driveway densities no significant difference in delay to left-turning traffic on the arterial can be expected between TWLTL and NTM. However, TWLTL design was found to cause less delay to through traffic and be more fuel efficient at all levels of driveway density and traffic volume. The study did not examine the safety aspects of TWLTL and an NTM, which should be considered for complete evaluation. This study developed estimates of the reduction in traffic delay and fuel consumption when a TWLTL is used instead of an NTM. These estimates would be useful for a benefit-cost analysis of alternative design features.

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