• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.71-78
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• 2013

This paper investigated the influences of ramp traffic flow on the lane utilization for signalized intersection approaches which are adjacent to an off-ramp-street junction. The statistical test showed a correlation between lane utilization and the ramp traffic flow. As the ramp traffic flow increases, the left lanes are less utilized and the right lanes are more utilized. The lane utilization factors are calculated by applying traffic data collected from the Seoul Metropolitan area. The utilization factors are 1.113 for 2 lanes, 1.124 for 3 lanes, and 1.131 for 4 lanes. The lane utilization factors proposed in the paper show higher values than those in current Korea Highway Capacity Manual (KHCM) under the conditions that the number of lanes is 2 or 3. However, the lane utilization factor for 4 lanes in the paper shows lower value than in KHCM. The ramp traffic flow causes more utilization of the right lanes than at normal signalized intersections and the extent gets larger as the number of lanes decreases. Based on the results of the paper, the lane utilization factors at signalized intersection approaches should be revised and reasonable capacity should be recalculated if the signalized intersection is adjacent to an off-ramp-street junction.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.79-87
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• 2007

The interchanges of urban freeways have many problems with traffic operation due to high off-ramp flows and frequent congestion at adjacent intersections. The flow exiting from off-ramps is affected by the operational status and traffic volume conditions of the nearest signalized intersection. As a result, off-ramp flow cannot exit and the queue backs up the freeway mainline when queues from the signalized intersection form up to the junction of the off-ramp and street. The spacing between an off-ramp and an adjacent intersection is likely to determine the traffic conditions at the adjacent intersection. However, the current design guidelines do not consider such a factor. This study is to develop a model calculating the spacing between off-ramps and adjacent intersections considering the signal, traffic, and road conditions. The variables affecting the model in this study are effective green time (g/C), volume-capacity ratio (v/c), the number of lanes, and off-ramp volume. Various scenarios are designed to represent the effects of the variables and the road networks are constructed using VISSIM, which is a common traffic micro-simulation software package. The queue length is derived from VISSIM and this length is considered as the recommended spacing between the off-ramp and the adjacent intersection. Through the simulation analysis, regression models are developed to calculate the queue length reflecting the various conditions such as signals, traffic, and road configurations. The developed model can be used to create road design guidelines to determine the location of off-ramps in the planning stage.