A Study on Calculating Relevant Length of Left Turn Storages Using UAV Spatial Images Considering Arrival Distribution Characteristics at Signalized Intersections in Urban Commercial Areas

Calculating the relevant length of left turn storages in urban intersections is very crucial in road designs. A left turn lane consists of deceleration lanes and left turn storages. In this study, we developed methods for calculating relevant lengths of left turn storages that vary at each intersection using UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) spatial images. Problems of conventional design techniques are applying the same number of left turn vehicles (N) using Poisson distribution without considering land use types, using a vehicle length that may not be measurable when applying the length of waiting vehicles (S), and using same storage length coefficient (${\alpha}$), 1.5, for every intersections. In order to solve these problems, we estimated the number of left turn vehicles (N) using an empirical distribution, suggested to use headways of vehicles for (S) to calculate the length of waiting vehicles (S) with a help of using UAV spatial images, and defined ranges of storage length coefficient (${\alpha}$) from 1.0 to 1.5 for flexible design. For more convenient design, it is suitable to classify two cases when possible to know and impossible to know about ratio of large trucks among vehicles when planning an intersection. We developed formula for each case to calculate left turn storage lengths of a minimum and a maximum. By applying developed methods and values, more efficient signalized intersection operation can be accomplished.