Comparison of Diverging Diamond interchange

118 Pages·2011·1.76 MB·English

by  Borja Galletebeitia

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE DIVERGING DIAMOND
INTERCHANGE AND PARTIAL CLOVERLEAF INTERCHANGE USING
MICROSIMULATION MODELING
by
Borja Galletebeitia

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of
The College of Engineering and Computer Science
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Science

Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL
December 2011
Copyright by Borja Galletebeitia 2011

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Foremost, I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to my advisor, Dr.
Evangelos I. Kaisar, for guiding and helping me throughout this process and for allowing
me to be part of his transportation research group. Dr. Kaisar’s knowledge and oversight
were vital for the completion of this thesis. I would also like to acknowledge and thank
Gilbert Chlewicki and Dr. Joe Bared for their suggestions and inputs in this research. In
addition, I would like to thank Dr. Stevanovic, Dr. K. Sobhan and Ms. J. Rodriguez-Seda
for being part of my thesis committee and for sparing their invaluable time reviewing and
providing comments on my thesis.
I also would like to thank all my family for believing, encouraging and supporting
me at every step in my life. Without them, nothing in my life would have been possible.
I also would like to thank everyone in the transportation group who helped me throughout
this process, especially Nikola Mitrovic, Ionnis Psarros, Dusan Milosija Jolovic, Alicia
Benazir Portal, Yueqiong Zhao, Alexandra Suzanne Johnsen and Mary Anise. Finally I
want to show my gratitude to my twin brother who has always been very supportive of
me, and has made this whole experience a much better one.
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ABSTRACT
Author: Borja Galletebeitia
Title: “Comparative Analysis between the Diverging Diamond
Interchange and the Partial Cloverleaf Interchange using Micro-
Simulation Modeling”
Institution: Florida Atlantic University
Thesis Advisors: Dr. Evangelos I. Kaisar
Degree: Master of Science
Year: 2011
In the last decades, population growth has been outpacing transportation
infrastructure growth, and today’s transportation professionals are challenged to meet the
mobility needs of an increasing population. The effectiveness of the transportation
system is an essential constituent of people’s daily lives as they commute between
different points of interest. Studies show that at many highway junctions, congestion
continues to worsen, and drivers are experiencing greater delays and higher risk
exposures. Engineers have very little resources to handle this increase in population.
One solution to resolve and alleviate congestion due to increasing traffic volumes and
travel demands relies in implementing alternative designs. This approach will help traffic
engineers determine which design will be the most appropriate for a particular location.
This study compares and evaluates the Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI), which is
an unconventional design, to Partial Cloverleaf (ParClo) types A4 and B4 interchange
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designs by evaluating different Measure of Effectiveness (MOEs). Using micro-
simulation platform AIMSUN, each interchange type was evaluated for low, medium and
high traffic flows. The analysis revealed that the DDI with four through lanes performed
better than the ParClo A4 for unbalanced conditions, the DDI with six though lanes had
similar results as the ParClo B4 for very high volumes. In terms of queue, the DDI
design had a much better performance. The results from the analysis help in providing
guidelines to the decision makers for selecting the best alternative in terms of
performance.

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DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my entire family, especially to my mom and my uncle, for their
love, support and encouragement throughout all these years and also because they always
made me believe I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. I will always be grateful.
“Thank you”

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE DIVERGING DIAMOND
INTERCHANGE AND PARTIAL CLOVERLEAF INTERCHANGE USING
MICROSIMULATION MODELING
LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xii
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1
Motivation ....................................................................................................................... 2
Problem Statement .......................................................................................................... 5
Overview of Approach .................................................................................................... 9
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................. 14
Diverging Diamond Interchange ................................................................................... 14
Partial Cloverleaf ........................................................................................................... 25
Guidelines for Selecting Interchange Type ................................................................... 28
Micro-simulation Platform ............................................................................................ 28
METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 30
Interchange Background ............................................................................................... 32
Diverging Diamond Interchange ............................................................................... 32
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Partial Cloverleaf ....................................................................................................... 35
Experimental Design ..................................................................................................... 44
Microsimulation Platform.......................................................................................... 44
Measures of Effectiveness ......................................................................................... 47
Geometrical Features ................................................................................................. 49
Safety Analysis .......................................................................................................... 53
Signal Settings and Signal Optimization tool ............................................................ 55
Traffic Volume Scenarios .......................................................................................... 63
Model inputs and development.................................................................................. 67
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS ........................................................................................... 71
CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 94
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE WORKS ......................................................... 97
APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 99
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................... 101

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Projected Vehicle Miles of Travel, 2004-2055 (AASHTO, 2007) ...................... 6
Figure 2 Diverging Diamond Interchange (Chlewicki, 2003) .......................................... 15
Figure 3 Layout of a Diverging Diamond Interchange Design (Bared et. al., 2005) ....... 17
Figure 4 Signal Settings for a DDI (Bared et. al., 2005) .................................................. 18
Figure 5 Conflict Points for a) DDI, b) Diamond Interchange and c) SPUI .................... 20
Figure 6 Traffic Volumes (Speth et. al., 2008) ................................................................. 21
Figure 7 Six Common Types of ParClos (Zhang et. al., 2010) ........................................ 26
Figure 8 Phasing Scheme for ParClo a) Types A and b) Type B (Zhang et. al., 2010) ... 27
Figure 9 Methodology Procedure ..................................................................................... 31
Figure 10 First U.S. Diamond Diverging Interchange (Chlewicki, 2010) ........................ 33
Figure 11 Crossover Movements in a DDI Interchange (Bared, 2009) ............................ 35
Figure 12 Six Types of Partial Cloverleaf (Zhang et. al., 2010) ...................................... 36
Figure 13 ParClo A4 (MnDOT, 2001) .............................................................................. 38
Figure 14 A ParClo A4 Type Interchange on the Highway 407 Electronic Toll
Route in Ontario (www.canadiandesignresource.ca, 2009) ...................................39
Figure 15 ParClo B4 (MnDOT, 2001) .............................................................................. 40
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