Chapter 8: Intersection Control

CE3020: Transportation Engineering II

Dr. Bhargava Rama Ch.

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 Outline
 General Concepts
 Conflict Points
 Types of Control
 Signal Timing Design
 Freeway Ramp Control
 Summary

All printed tables and figures in this presentation come from the textbook: Garber, N. J., and L. A. Hoel, Traffic
2 and Highway Engineering, 4th edition, Brooks/Cole Publishing, USA. 30-03-2018
 General Concepts
 An intersection is an area shared by two or more roads
 allow the change of route directions
 an area of decision for all drivers
 Classified as grade-separated or at-grade
 Purpose of control is to assign the right of way to drivers
 reduce delays and crashes and increase capacity
 Control achieved by using traffic signals, signs, or pavement
markings that regulate, guide, warn, and/or channel traffic
 Complex areas need proper design of the traffic-control system

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 General Concepts
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) recommends:
 Design: designed with a combination of size, colour, and shape
to convey a message and command the respect and attention
 Placement: location within the cone of vision of the viewer and
the gives adequate response time when driving at normal speed
 Operation: ensures the fulfilment of traffic requirements in a
consistent and uniform way
 Maintenance: regularly maintained to ensure sustained
legibility
 Uniformity: facilitate the recognition and understanding of
devices; similar devices should be used at locations with similar
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traffic and geometric characteristics
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 General Concepts
 Avoid using control devices
that conflict with one another
at the same location
 Control devices aid each other
in transmitting the required
message

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 Conflict Points
 Conflicts occur when traffic streams
moving in different directions interfere
with each other
 Merging
 Diverging
 Crossing
 32 conflict points at an unsignalized 4-
legged intersection
 # of conflict points depends on the #
of approaches, turning movements, and
the type of traffic control at the
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intersection
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 Conflict Points
 Primary objective in the design of a traffic-control system is to
reduce the number of significant conflict points
 Design includes:
 Identify type of conflict, the number of vehicles in each
conflicting stream, and the speeds of the vehicles in those
streams
 Crossing conflicts have the most severe effect on traffic flow and
should be reduced to a minimum whenever possible.

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 Types of Control
 Several methods available:
 signs
 pavement markings
 traffic signals
 Choice depends on the geometry, traffic volumes, and location
 Guidelines given in the form of warrants

 USA: MUTCD
 For Signs: IRC: 67-2001
 For Pavement Markings: IRC: 35-1997
 For Signals: IRC: 93-1985

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 Signal Timing Design
 Warrants help decide whether a traffic signal should be used at
an intersection
 Efficient operation of the signal requires proper timing of the
different colour indications
 Controller: the “brain” that changes the signal indications
 Cabinet: roadside box hosting the controller
 Signal head: signal indications for traffic control
 Cycle (cycle length): time in seconds required for one
complete sequence of signal indications
 Phase (signal phase): part of a cycle allocated to a stream of
traffic or a combination of two or more streams of traffic
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 Signal Timing Design
 Interval: part of the cycle length during which signal indications
do not change
 Offset: time lapse in seconds or the percentage of the cycle
length between the beginning of a green phase at an intersection
and the beginning of a corresponding green phase at the next
intersection.
 Change and clearance interval: total length of time in seconds
of the yellow and all-red signal indications.
 All-red interval: display time of a red indication for all
approaches

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 Signal Timing Design
 Design hourly volume (DHV): Peak hour volume / PHF
 Lane group: consists of one or more lanes on an approach and
have the same green phase
 Critical lane group: lane group that requires the longest green
time in a phase
 Saturation flow rate: The flow rate in veh/h that the lane group
can carry if it has the green indication continuously, (g/C = 1)
 Depends on the ideal saturation flow ≈ 1900 vph
 Corrected for various parameters
 Highway Capacity Manual gives guidelines

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 Signal Timing Design

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 Signal Timing Objective
 Reduce:
 average delay of all vehicles
 probability of crashes
 Achieved by minimizing the
possible conflict points
 Assign the right of way to
different traffic streams at
different times

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 Signal Timing Objective
 Delay reduction vs. Safety
 Engineering judgement required
 Two-phase system whenever
possible
 shortest practical cycle
length
 Complex intersections may need
a multiphase (three or more
phases) system

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 Yellow Phase
 Alert motorists of impending red
 Yellow phase should ensure an approaching vehicle to either stop
safely or proceed through the intersection without speeding
 Bad design can lead to dilemma zone

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 Yellow Phase
𝑊+𝐿 𝑢0
𝜏𝑚𝑖𝑛 =𝛿+ +
𝑢0 2(𝑎 ± 𝐺𝑔)
 Generally, 𝜏𝑚𝑖𝑛 ≈ 3 − 5 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠
 For longer yellow intervals, use an all-red phase

Example:
Determine the minimum yellow interval at an intersection whose
width is 15 m if the maximum allowable speed on the 3%
upgrade approach road is 45 km/h. Assume average length of
vehicle is 4 m.
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 Cycle Length: Webster’s Method
 Cycle Length:
 Peak hour vs. non-peak hours
 Webster’s method and HCM method

 Webster’s Method: Minimum intersection

delay

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 Webster’s Method: Lost time
𝑙𝑖 = 𝐺𝑎𝑖 + 𝜏𝑖 − 𝐺𝑒𝑖

R: total all-red time during the cycle

 Effective green time (𝐺𝑒𝑖 ) = Area/saturation flow rate

 Lost time not used by any other phase for the discharge
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18 of vehicles
 Webster’s Method: Green time
 Lane group: A lane
group consists of one
or more lanes on an
intersection
approach and having
the same green
phase.
 Critical lane group:
The lane group that
requires the longest
green time in a phase
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 Webster’s Method: Green time
 Cycle length rounded-off to nearest 5 seconds
 Total effective green time available per cycle – allocated to
different phases
𝐺𝑡𝑒 = 𝐶 − 𝐿
 For minimal delay, green time proportionate to their Y values

 Actual green time is

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 Webster’s Method: Green time
 Minimum green: Generally cross street width/pedestrian
speed (ped. Speed generally 1.4 m/s)
 HCM gives:

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 Webster’s Method: Recipe
 Find the number of phases (generally given otherwise use
engineering judgement)
 Calculate yellow time for each phase
 Calculate the total lost time, L (generally, (3.5 sec + all-red
time)/phase)
 Calculate Y values for each lane group and find the critical Y for
each phase
 Determine optimal cycle length
 Calculate total effective green time and effective green time
per phase
 Calculate actual green time per phase 30-03-2018
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 Webster’s Method: Example
For an intersection with two one-way streets, calculate the signal
timings using webster’s method for the following data:
o N/S & E/W – 2 lanes each (one lane per movement)
o Saturation flow per lane = 2000 vph for thru and 1500 for
turn lanes
o Flow: NBT - 800 vph, NBR - 600 vph, EBT - 900 vph, and
EBL - 500 vph
o No all-red time

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