The safety effect of open-median management on one-side widened freeways: A driving simulation evaluation |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Qilu Transportation, Shandong University, China;2. Intelligent Transportation Systems Research Center, Wuhan University of Technology, China;3. Shandong Transportation Research Institute, China;1. Technische Universität Chemnitz, 09107 Chemnitz, Germany;2. Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany;3. BMW Group, 80788 München, Germany;1. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 6710 Rockledge 3166, Bethesda, MD 20852-7510, United States;2. The Emmes Company, 401 N. Washington St, Suite 700, Rockville, MD 20850, United States;3. Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, Virginia Tech, 3500 Transportation Research Plaza, Blacksburg, VA 24060, United States;4. Glotech, 6710 Rockledge 3166, Bethesda, MD 20852-7510, United States;1. University of Gothenburg, Box 100, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden;2. Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden;3. Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden;1. George Mason University, United States;2. Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety R&D, United States;1. Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 N. Riverside Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States;2. Injury Prevention Research Center, University of Iowa, 145 N. Riverside Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States;3. University of Iowa, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, 145 N. Riverside Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States |
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| Abstract: | Introduction: Highway expansions and upgrades are often required to increase road network capacity. The widening of one side of a highway, referred to as ‘one-side widening,’ is sometimes implemented in these highway expansion projects. During one-side widening, to save costs, openings can be configured on existing medians (as opposed to removing the existing medians altogether). The median openings allow vehicles in the outer lanes to enter the inner lanes, but they also raise safety concerns and may require alternate open-median management strategies for traffic authorities. There is little existing research that has evaluated the safety effect of these open-median management strategies. Method: To bridge this gap, this study proposes a procedure that evaluates the safety of open-median management strategies for one-side widened highways. The proposed procedure was implemented through driving simulation experiments on a section of Binlai Freeway in Shandong, China. First, the minimum location requirements for median openings were determined by calculating the short length of the weaving segment. Then, simulation tests were carried out to observe driving performance and workload measures. Results: The results indicate that the procedure successfully evaluates the safety effect of open-median management strategies for one-side widened freeways. It was also found that driving performance and workload are sensitive to the opening length and traffic flow. Conclusions: Therefore, median opening placement should be carefully selected in consideration of not only driving performance and workload but also traffic volume predictions. Practical Applications: The findings in this study can guide open-median management strategies for traffic safety one-side widened highways. |
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| Keywords: | Highway expansion Open-median management One-side widening Driving simulation Safety effect evaluation |
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