Design Guidance for Freeway Main-Line Ramp Terminals

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study to develop improved design guidance for freeway main-line ramp terminals on the basis of modern driver behavior and vehicle performance capabilities. The primary steps included a crash analysis, an observational field study, and a driver behavioral study. This research reached several key conclusions, as follows. Vehicle merging speeds tend to be closer to freeway speeds at tapered acceleration lanes than at parallel acceleration lanes. The recommended minimum lengths for acceleration lanes presented in the 2004 edition of AASHTO's A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (Green Book) are conservative and, under certain conditions, could be reduced by 15%. In a situation in which a significant volume of trucks uses an entrance ramp, an acceleration lane length that will better accommodate trucks can be derived by using speed–distance curves developed for a range of weight-to-power ratios. The recommended minimum lengths for deceleration lanes presented in the 2004 Green Book are conservative and do not account for deceleration in the freeway. Providing deceleration lanes longer than the minimum values given in the Green Book may promote casual deceleration by exiting drivers. Several potential changes for consideration in the next edition of the Green Book are recommended on the basis of the findings and conclusions of this research.