When to Decide to Convert a Roundabout to a Signalized Intersection: Simulation Approach for Case Studies in Jeddah and
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RESEARCH ARTICLE-CIVIL ENGINEERING
When to Decide to Convert a Roundabout to a Signalized Intersection: Simulation Approach for Case Studies in Jeddah and Al-Madinah Mahmoud Owais1,2
· Omar Abulwafa1 · Youssef Ali Abbas1
Received: 3 January 2020 / Accepted: 17 March 2020 © King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals 2020
Abstract The increasing congestion on transportation networks has raised inconvenience among the network’s users, especially in major cities intersections where there are frequently problems experienced like delays and low levels of service. Roundabouts are always offered as a solution or an alternative from existing signalized intersections believing in their substantial delays reduction. However, it is essential to adopt advanced transportation analysis tools to ensure whether this solution performance would last overtime or not. This study focuses on evaluating the performance of two real existing roundabouts in Jeddah and Al-Madinah cities over time. It aims at analyzing and assessing the level of service of these two intersections in the case of existing roundabouts and their parallel solution of signalized intersections to decide when it is better to convert the existing roundabout into a signalized intersection. Sidra and Synchro, as the simulation tools are fed with synthetically generated demand scenarios, represent the normal increase in traffic with passing years. As a result, the underperforming year is easily detected for both intersections. Also, the impact of the rise in left-turn volume is evaluated for both solution types. It is expected that the proposed framework would help practitioners to continuously assess the applicability of converting roundabout solutions to signalized intersections besides determining the span of service. Keywords Roundabouts analysis · Signalized intersections · Synchro · Sidra · Traffic simulation
1 Introduction Traffic intersections could be considered the most complex component of a transportation network. In an intersection operation, vehicles are moving in different directions wanting to occupy the same space at the same time. Users are always required to take fast decisions at an intersection by considering the route, the geometry, operation speed, and the movement of other vehicles. Errors in judgment could cause delays as well as severe accidents. The overall transportation network performance depends mainly on the quality of its intersections. The performance is usually measured in terms of the delay and the capacity which are inherent elements in the analysis of intersections. Therefore, from both delay and
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Mahmoud Owais [email protected]; [email protected]
1
Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt
2
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia
capacity perspectives, the study of intersections is a crucial task for traffic engineers [1, 2]. The common practice to solve intersections is in two ways: 1—grade separation approach,
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