Effectiveness of Road Chicanes in Access Zones to a Village at 70 km/h Speed Limit

3rd World Multidisciplinary Civil Engineering, Architecture, Urban Planning Symposium

土木建筑工程;文学

Kacprzak, Dominik^1 ; Solowczuk, Alicja^1

West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, 50 Piastów Ave., Szczecin

70-311, Poland^1

关键词: Additional datum;    Comparative analysis;    Comparative tests;    Horizontal curves;    Limited visibility;    Speed measurement;    Traffic arrangements;    Traffic calming;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/471/6/062010/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/471/6/062010

学科分类：土木及结构工程学

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

The development of motoring has increased life quality and pace. As a result, not only cities but also smaller towns and villages with roads face transportation challenges. The fundamental problem in smaller towns and villages is to ensure road safety at pedestrian crossings on through roads. The guidelines of road building recommend to introduce traffic calming devices at places where traffic enters a built-up area, to reduce speeds at the entry of a city or village. Chicanes curve the trajectory of traffic and consequently cause speed reduction. The authors conducted a series of speed measurements in free and continuous traffic flow conditions on major local roads with different types of road chicanes. For each case, additional data regarding road characteristics in the vicinity of a chicane were gathered, including the contour of the town visible while approaching the chicane, the distance from the chicane to the nearest buildings in the village, how visible the road continuity behind the chicane was, developments of the greenery and the type of traffic arrangement used. The paper analyses road sections with 70 km/h speed limit before the chicane, as on B-33 road sign. For comparison purposes, speed measurements were also conducted at the entry to the village, where although no chicanes were built, there was B-33 road sign with the speed limit of 70 km/h. The comparative tests aimed at determining whether drivers reduce speed when they see the road sign, because of the chicane or following another determinant. Comparative analysis showed that given B-33 sign (which introduces 70 km/h speed limit) at the entry zone to the town, drivers' speeds significantly exceed 70 km/h in free traffic flow. Even in continuous traffic flow, speeds usually oscillate around 70 km/h. The speeds are significantly lower behind the chicane. The maximum reduction of speed at the entry to the village was achieved for other determinants recorded in the study, including a clearly visible silhouette of the village, closely located houses, a horizontal curve behind the chicane with limited visibility of the further section of the road. >90% of motorists behind the chicane drive with speeds