Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges
Interchanges are a key and the most complex element of a road infrastructure. The safety and functionality of interchanges determine the traffic conditions and safety of the entire road network. This applies particularly to motorways and expressways, for which they are the only way to access and exc...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Faculty of Transport, Warsaw University of Technology
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Archives of Transport |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://aot.publisherspanel.com/gicid/01.3001.0014.8969 |
| _version_ | 1811190192854269952 |
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| author | Marcin Budzynski Agnieszka Tubis Mateusz Rydlewski |
| author_facet | Marcin Budzynski Agnieszka Tubis Mateusz Rydlewski |
| author_sort | Marcin Budzynski |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Interchanges are a key and the most complex element of a road infrastructure. The safety and functionality of interchanges determine the traffic conditions and safety of the entire road network. This applies particularly to motorways and expressways, for which they are the only way to access and exchange traffic. A big problem in Poland is the lack of comprehensive tools for designers at individual stages of the design process. This applies to guidelines or other documents regarding the location, choice of interchanges type and selection of design pa-rameters. This does not provide sufficient material for designing safe and functional interchanges. This situation results in numerous hazards that occur on existing interchanges and errors that are still being made at all stages of the design process. Consequently, there is a risk of accidents in the area of interchanges, which often have serious consequences.
The purpose of the research presented in the article is to identify main groups of hazards on the interchanges and to classify them based on field tests and audits of project documentation. The prepared classification uses the results of analyzing data on road accidents. As part of the research, a database was built that includes in-formation on road accidents and traffic, as well as data on all existing interchanges on motorways and express-ways in Poland. These data includes: interchange type, length of exit and entry lanes, total interchanges length, type of cross-section on main roads and ramps. The number and type of ramps occurring at a given interchange as well as the type of intersections, if any, were also taken into account.
Based on the assessment, the level of safety was determined for individual types of interchanges. Then, the impact of selected road and traffic factors on safety was presented. The critical elements of interchanges are entries, exits, weaving sections and intersections. Assumptions were also adopted for the classification of identified haz-ards.
A comprehensive safety assessment for interchanges allowed the development of assumptions for their design guidelines. On the basis of database exploration and field research, the main problems and hazards regarding the functioning of interchanges were identified. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:46:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9d33e76616084ae1a62c45a223fea276 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0866-9546 2300-8830 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:46:07Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Faculty of Transport, Warsaw University of Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Archives of Transport |
| spelling | doaj.art-9d33e76616084ae1a62c45a223fea2762022-12-22T04:17:37ZengFaculty of Transport, Warsaw University of TechnologyArchives of Transport0866-95462300-88302021-06-015829911310.5604/01.3001.0014.896901.3001.0014.8969Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchangesMarcin Budzynski0Agnieszka Tubis1Mateusz Rydlewski2Gdansk University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Environmental Engineering, Highway and Transportation Engineering Department, Gdansk, PolandWroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Maintenance and Operation of Technical Systems, Wroclaw, PolandWroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Maintenance and Operation of Technical Systems, Wroclaw, PolandInterchanges are a key and the most complex element of a road infrastructure. The safety and functionality of interchanges determine the traffic conditions and safety of the entire road network. This applies particularly to motorways and expressways, for which they are the only way to access and exchange traffic. A big problem in Poland is the lack of comprehensive tools for designers at individual stages of the design process. This applies to guidelines or other documents regarding the location, choice of interchanges type and selection of design pa-rameters. This does not provide sufficient material for designing safe and functional interchanges. This situation results in numerous hazards that occur on existing interchanges and errors that are still being made at all stages of the design process. Consequently, there is a risk of accidents in the area of interchanges, which often have serious consequences. The purpose of the research presented in the article is to identify main groups of hazards on the interchanges and to classify them based on field tests and audits of project documentation. The prepared classification uses the results of analyzing data on road accidents. As part of the research, a database was built that includes in-formation on road accidents and traffic, as well as data on all existing interchanges on motorways and express-ways in Poland. These data includes: interchange type, length of exit and entry lanes, total interchanges length, type of cross-section on main roads and ramps. The number and type of ramps occurring at a given interchange as well as the type of intersections, if any, were also taken into account. Based on the assessment, the level of safety was determined for individual types of interchanges. Then, the impact of selected road and traffic factors on safety was presented. The critical elements of interchanges are entries, exits, weaving sections and intersections. Assumptions were also adopted for the classification of identified haz-ards. A comprehensive safety assessment for interchanges allowed the development of assumptions for their design guidelines. On the basis of database exploration and field research, the main problems and hazards regarding the functioning of interchanges were identified.http://aot.publisherspanel.com/gicid/01.3001.0014.8969road safetyroad infrastructureinterchanges |
| spellingShingle | Marcin Budzynski Agnieszka Tubis Mateusz Rydlewski Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges Archives of Transport road safety road infrastructure interchanges |
| title | Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges |
| title_full | Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges |
| title_fullStr | Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges |
| title_short | Preliminary safety assessment of Polish interchanges |
| title_sort | preliminary safety assessment of polish interchanges |
| topic | road safety road infrastructure interchanges |
| url | http://aot.publisherspanel.com/gicid/01.3001.0014.8969 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcinbudzynski preliminarysafetyassessmentofpolishinterchanges AT agnieszkatubis preliminarysafetyassessmentofpolishinterchanges AT mateuszrydlewski preliminarysafetyassessmentofpolishinterchanges |