Effect of the Coincidence of Interdisciplinary Actions on the Expected Speed Reduction

Abstract

In the era of increasing traffic volumes, traffic calming problems seem to be fundamental challenges that connect a number of related, although at face value independent, issues involving different social groups. The fundamental problem in smaller towns and villages is to ensure traffic safety on the sections of through roads crossing their areas. The domestic and international guidelines of road design recommend to introduce traffic calming devices at places where traffic enters a built-up area and in centre zone, to reduce speeds along the road cutting through a village. One solution is to construct traffic calming devices in transition zones. As a result, one obtains the so-called speed zoning even before a zone directly related to the scattered or dense housing development. The second issue is to apply traffic calming measures in the built-up area. It would seem that the task should pose no difficulty and that it should be the responsibility of road workers. However, research and analysis into the effectiveness of traffic calming devices show that the best effect is obtained through the coincidence of interdisciplinary actions of road builders, local authorities, urban planners and many other specialists. An example of the co-existing traffic calming measures implemented in the village of Wrzosowo, Poland is a clear case in support of the above thesis. The mere application of traffic calming devices is not a guarantee of achieving the expected results in terms of speed reduction. However, a joint interdisciplinary action can improve the effectiveness of the scheme and lead to achieving a significant traffic speed drop. Further in the paper the authors present the results of a traffic speed survey conducted to check the speed reduction achieved on a section of a regional road passing through a village in Poland. Speed measurements were conducted three times, before the reconstruction of the existing road, after the reconstruction and after the implementation of all the elements of traffic calming, as designed by road builders and urban planners responsible for the shaping of the road’s surroundings. Analysis of the results demonstrated that chicanes constructed in the transition zones to villages, if used as the only measure, did not provide the reduction of the speed of traffic cutting through the village. It was only the coincidence of the application of traffic calming devices and elements of road vicinity development that resulted in the expected traffic speed reduction enhancing environmental conditions and improving local road safety. Conclusions drawn on the basis of conducted analysis confirm that the location of chicanes, the use of central reservation strip and traffic barriers must be closely linked to the elements of development present in the vicinity of the road and the location of road signs that inform motorists that they enter a built-up area.