19. Traffic Rotaries
Traffic rotaries are designed to streamline traffic flow by converting severe intersection conflicts into milder ones, promoting safer vehicular movement. This chapter discusses the benefits and limitations of rotaries, guidelines for their selection, operational characteristics, design elements, and capacity assessments. The design principles ensure efficient traffic management, especially in areas with moderate traffic volumes and varied movement patterns.
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What we have learnt
- Rotaries help to eliminate severe conflicts at intersections by forcing vehicles to move in a clockwise direction around a central island.
- Design elements such as entry and exit radius, design speed, and weaving length are critical for successful rotary operations.
- Capacity of a rotary is determined based on weaving section conditions and the traffic volume approaching the rotary.
Key Concepts
- -- Diverging
- A traffic operation where vehicles moving in one direction are separated into different streams according to their destinations.
- -- Merging
- The opposite of diverging, where traffic streams coming from various directions are combined into a single stream.
- -- Weaving
- A combined movement involving both merging and diverging movements in the same direction.
- -- Design Elements
- Factors like design speed, radius at entry and exit, and weaving length that affect the safety and efficiency of rotaries.
- -- Capacity Assessment
- Determining the maximum traffic volume that can efficiently use a rotary, based on various traffic metrics and ratios.
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