REPORT ON DESIGN OF ROAD

INTERSECTION

`
 CONTENT

1. INTODUCTION……………………………………………………………….4
1.1 BASIC ELEMENT OF INTERSECTION DESIGN……………5
1.2 TYPES OF INTERSECTION………………………………………..6
1.3 CONFLICTS AT AN INTERSECTION……………………………9
1.4 LEVELS OF INTERSECTION CONTROL……………………….10
2. DESIGN OF ROAD INTERSECTION……………………………………
2.1 DESIGN OF ROTARIES………………………………………………11
2.2 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES………………………11
2.3 GUIDELINES FOR THE SELECTION…………………………….12
2.4 TRAFFIC OPERATION IN AN INTERSECTION………………12
2.5 DESIGN ELEMENTS…………………………………………………..13
2.6 DESIGN SPEED………………………………………………………….13
2.7 ENTRY, EXIT and ISLAND RADIUS………………………………13
2.8 WIDTH OF THE INTERSECTION………………………………….14
2.9 CAPACITY………………………………………………………………….15
3. CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………………………16

2
 1. INTRODUCTION
Intersections are unique roadway elements where conflicting vehicle
streams (and sometimes non-motorized users) share the same space. This area
encompasses all modes of travel including:

• Pedestrian

• Bicycle

• Passenger vehicle

• Truck

• Transit

Intersections also encompass auxiliary lanes, medians, islands, sidewalks

and pedestrian ramps. These may further heighten the accident potential and
constrain the operational efficiency and network capacity of the urban street
system. However, the main objective of intersection design is to facilitate the
roadway user and enhance efficient vehicle movement. The need to provide extra
time for drivers to perceive, decide, and navigate through the intersection is
central to intersection design controls and practices.

Designing to accommodate the appropriate traffic control are critical to

good intersection design. Warrants and guidelines for selection of appropriate
intersection control (including stop, yield, all-stop, or signal control) may be found
in the MUTCD (The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices)

The overall traffic flow on any highway depends to a great extent on the
performance of the intersections, since intersections usually operate at a lower
capacity than through sections of the road.

3
 1.1 BASIC ELEMENT OF INTERSECTION DESIGN
Human Factors: Driver habits, decision ability, driver expectancy,
decision/reaction time, paths of movement, pedestrian characteristics,
bicyclists

Traffic Considerations: Roadway classifications, capacities, turning movements,

vehicle characteristics, traffic movements, vehicle speeds, transit, crash
history, bicycles, pedestrians

Physical Elements: Abutting properties, vertical alignments, sight distance,

intersection angle, conflict area, speed-change lanes, geometric design, traffic
control, lighting, roadside design, environmental factors, crosswalks,
driveways, access management

Economic Factors: Improvement costs, energy consumption, right-of-way

impacts.

CRITICAL GAP (tc): The critical gap, tc, is defined as the minimum time interval
in the major-street traffic stream that allows intersection entry for one minor-
street vehicle (5). A particular driver would reject any gaps less than the critical
gap.

FOLLOW-UP TIME (tf): The time between the departure of one vehicle from
the minor street and the departure of the next vehicle using the same major-
street gap, under a condition of continuous queuing on the minor street, is
called the follow-up time, tf. Tf is the headway that defines the saturation flow
rate for the approach if there were no conflicting vehicles on movements of
higher rank.

4
A range of design elements are available to achieve the functiona objectives,
including horizontal and vertical geometry, left- and right-turn lanes,
channelization, etc.

Level of service analysis and roadway capacity is critical considerations in

intersection design. Capacity is determined by constraints at intersections. Vehicle
turns at intersections interrupt traffic flow and reduce levels of service.

AASHTO defines intersection capacity as “the maximum hourly rate at

which vehicles can reasonably be expected to pass through the intersection under
prevailing traffic, roadway, and signalization conditions”.

A well-designed intersection is clear to the driver with design dimensions

supporting operational requirements, traffic control devices functioning as
intended, and non-motorized vehicle users operating safely through the
intersection.

1.2 TYPES OF INTERSECTION

Intersections are classified into three general categories: grade-separated
without ramps, grade-separated with ramps (commonly known as
interchanges), and at-grade.

Basic type of intersection Grade separated interchanges

5
The basic type of intersection can be classified as follows :
 Three-leg (T)
 Four-leg
 Multi-leg
 Roundabout

Three-leg intersection Four-leg intersection

These types may vary based on scope, shape, flaring (for auxiliary lanes), and
channelization (separation/regulation of conflicting traffic).

 Three-leg: The typical three-leg intersection configuration contains normal

paving widths with paved corner radii for accommodating design vehicles.
The angle of intersection typically ranges from 60 to 120 degrees.

Auxiliary lanes (left or right-turn lanes) may be used to increase

roadway capacity and provide better operational conditions. Channelization
may be achieved by increasing corner radii to separate a turning roadway
from the normal traveled ways by an island.

 Four-leg: Many of the three-leg intersection design considerations

(islands, auxiliary lanes, channelization, etc.) may also be applied to four-leg
intersections.

6
 Multi-leg Reconfiguration Options:
o Realigning one or more legs
o Combining traffic movements at subsidiary intersections
o Redesigning as a roundabout
o Converting legs to one-way operation

 Roundabout: Rotary intersections or round about are special form of at-

grade intersections laid out for the movement of traffic in one direction
around a central traffic island. Essentially 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. The vehicles entering the rotary are gently forced to move in a
clockwise direction in orderly fashion. They then weave out of the rotary to
the desired direction.

7
1.3 CONFLICTS AT AN INTERSECTION
Conflicts at an intersection are different for different types of
intersection. Consider a typical four-legged intersection as shown in figure.
The numbers of conflicts for competing through movements is 4, while
competing right turn and through movements are 8. The conflicts between
right turn traffics are 4, and between left turn and merging traffic is 4. The
conflicts created by pedestrians will be 8 taking into account all the four
approaches. Diverging traffic also produces about 4 conflicts. Therefore, a
typical four legged intersection has about 32 different types of conflicts.
This is shown in figure.

The essence of the intersection control is to resolve these conflicts at

the intersection for the safe and efficient movement of both vehicular
traffic and pedestrians. Two methods of intersection controls are there:
time sharing and space sharing. The type of intersection control that has to
be adopted depends on the traffic volume, road geometry, cost involved,
importance of the road etc.

8
1.4 LEVELS OF INTERSECTION CONTROL
The control of an intersection can be exercised at different levels. They can
be either passive control, semi control, or active control. In passive control, there
is no explicit control on the driver. In semi control, some amount of control on the
driver is there from the traffic agency. Active control means the movement of the
traffic is fully controlled by the traffic agency and the drivers cannot simply
maneuver the intersection according to his choice.

 Passive control: When the volume of traffic is less, no explicit control is

required. Here the road users are required to obey the basic rules of the
road. Passive control like traffic signs, road markings etc. are used to
complement the intersection control.
 Semi control: In semi control or partial control, the drivers are gently
guided to avoid conflicts. Channelization and traffic rotaries are two
examples of this.
 Active control: Active control implies that the road user will be forced to
follow the path suggested by the traffic control agencies. He cannot
maneuver according to his wish. Traffic signals and grade separated
intersections come under this classification.

Trumpet interchange Cloverleaf interchange

9
2.1 DESIGN OF ROTARIES
Rotary intersections or round about are special form of at-grade
intersections laid out for the movement of traffic in one direction around a
central traffic island. Essentially 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. The vehicles entering the rotary
are gently forced to move in a clockwise direction in orderly fashion. They then
weave out of the rotary to the desired direction.

2.2 ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

The key advantages of a rotary intersection are listed below:

1. Traffic flow is regulated to only one direction of movement, thus eliminating severe con-
flicts between crossing movements.

2. 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

3. Because of lower speed of negotiation and elimination of severe conflicts, accidents and
their severity are much less in rotaries.

4. Rotaries are self governing and do not need practically any control by police or traffic
signals.

5. They are ideally suited for moderate traffic, especially with irregular geometry, or inter-
sections with more than three or four approaches.

Although intersection offer some distinct advantages, there are few specific limitations for
rotaries which are listed below.

1. All the vehicles are forced to slow down and negotiate the intersection. Therefore, the
cumulative delay will be much higher than channelized intersection.

2. Even when there is relatively low traffic, the vehicles are forced to reduce their speed.

3. Rotaries require large area of relatively flat land making them costly at urban areas.
4. The vehicles do not usually stop at a rotary. They accelerate and exit the rotary at
relatively high speed.
2.3 GUIDELINES FOR THE SELECTION

10
 Because of the above limitation, intersection are not suitable for every
location. There are few guidelines that help in deciding the suitability of a rotary.
They are listed below.

1. Rotaries are suitable when the traffic entering from all the four approaches are
relatively equal.

2. 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.

3. A rotary is very beneficial when the proportion of the right-turn traffic is very high;
typically if it is more than 30 percent.

4. 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.

2.4 TRAFFIC OPERATION IN AN INTERSECTION

As noted earlier, the traffic operations at a rotary are three; diverging,
merging and weaving. All the other conflicts are converted into these three less
severe conflicts.

1. Diverging: It is a traffic operation when the vehicles moving in one direction is

separated into different streams according to their destinations.

2. 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.

3. Weaving: Weaving is the combined movement of both merging and diverging

movements in the same direction.

2.5 DESIGN ELEMENTS

11
 The design elements include design speed, radius at entry, exit and the
central island, weaving length and width, entry and exit widths. In addition the
capacity of the rotary can also be determined by using some empirical formula. A
typical rotary and the important design elements are shown in figure

2.6 DESIGN SPEED

All the vehicles are required to reduce their speed at a rotary. Therefore,
the design speed of a rotary will be much lower than the roads leading to it.
Although it is possible to design roundabout without much speed reduction, the
geometry may lead to very large size incurring huge cost of construction. The
normal practice is to keep the design speed as 30 and 40 kmph for urban and
rural areas respectively.

2.7 ENTRY, EXIT and ISLAND RADIUS

The radius at the entry depends on various factors like design speed, super-
elevation, and coefficient of friction. The entry to the rotary is not straight, but a
small curvature is introduced. This will force the driver to reduce the speed. The
entry radius of about 20 and 25 meters is ideal for an urban and rural design
respectively.
The exit radius should be higher than the entry radius and the radius of the
rotary island so that the vehicles will discharge from the rotary at a higher rate. A
general practice is to keep the exit radius as 1.5 to 2 times the entry radius.
However, if pedestrian movement is higher at the exit approach, then the exit
radius could be set as same as that of the entry radius.

The radius of the central island is governed by the design speed, and the
radius of the entry curve. The radius of the central island, in practice, is given a
slightly higher radius so that the movement of the traffic already in the rotary will

12
have priority. The radius of the central island which is about 1.3 times that of the
entry curve is adequate for all practical purposes.

2.8 WIDTH OF THE INTERSECTION

The entry width and exit width of the rotary is governed by the traffic
entering and leaving the intersection and the width of the approaching road. The
width of the carriageway at entry and exit will be lower than the width of the
carriageway at the approaches to enable reduction of speed. IRC suggests that a
two lane road of 7 m width should be kept as 7 m for urban roads and 6.5 m for
rural roads. Further, a three lane road of 10.5 m is to be reduced to 7 m and 7.5 m
respectively for urban and rural roads.
The width of the weaving section should be higher than the width at
entry and exit. Nor-mally this will be one lane more than the average entry and
exit width. Thus weaving width is given as,
WWeaving = ( e +2 e )+ 3.5m
1 2

Where e1 is the width of the carriageway at the entry and e2 is the carriageway
width at exit.

Weaving operation in a rotary

Weaving length determines how smoothly the traffic can merge and diverge. It is
decided based on many factors such as weaving width, proportion of weaving
traffic to the non-weaving traffic etc. Weaving length determines how smoothly
the traffic can merge and diverge. It is decided based on many factors such as
weaving width, proportion of weaving traffic to the non-weaving traffic etc.

13
2.9 CAPACITY
The capacity of rotary is determined by the capacity of each weaving
section. Transportation road research lab (TRL) proposed the following empirical
formula to find the capacity of the weaving section.

e p

Qw =
[ ][ ]
280 w 1+
w
1−
3
w
1+
l
Where e is the average entry and exit width, i.e. (e 1+ e 2) , w is the weaving width,
2
l is the length of weaving, and p is the proportion of weaving traffic to the non-
weaving traffic. Shows four types of movements at a weaving section, a and d
are the non-weaving traffic and b and c are the weaving traffic. Therefore,
b+c
P =
a+b+ c+ d

This capacity formula is valid only if the following conditions are satisfied.

1. Weaving width at the rotary is in between 6 and 18 meters.

2. The ratio of average width of the carriage way at entry and exit to
the weaving width is in the range of 0.4 to 1.

3. The ratio of weaving width to weaving length of the roundabout is in

between 0.12 and 0.4.

4. The proportion of weaving traffic to non-weaving traffic in the rotary

is in the range of 0.4 and 1.

5. The weaving length available at the intersection is in between 18 and

90m.

14
 3. CONCLUSIONS
The shortage of continuous paved shoulders or continuous sidewalks along either
side of Road, combined with a narrow lane width, is potentially hazardous for
pedestrians and drivers. Therefore, the installation of a continuous shoulder of
consistent width, or a sidewalk, along at least one entire side of Road is
recommended. The installation of more crosswalks is recommended at the Road
intersection to accompany the recommended pedestrian signal heads.
Thus road intersection reduce the complexity of crossing
traffic by forcing them into weaving operations. The shape and size of the
intersection are determined by the traffic volume and share of turning
movements. Capacity assessment of a intersection is done by analyzing the
section having the greatest proportion of weaving traffic. The analysis is done by
using the formula given by TRL.

15