Traffic Assessment for Completion of Road Upgrading from Secondary Road to Dual Carriageway

Abstract

A traffic study was carried out at the signalized intersections to assess the road condition after a road upgrading from secondary road (3 m wide lane) to dual carriageway (3.5 m wide lane). The site selected was Tudan Road, which is located in Miri City in Sarawak State, Malaysia, and it is about 20-minute drive from the Border of Brunei Darussalam. Tudan Road connects Kuala Baram Bypass and Lutong-Kuala Baram Road with traffic light intersections. Traffic count data was collected at both intersections of Kuala Baram Bypass and Lutong-Kuala Baram Road by recording the traffic volume for every 15 minutes interval during an hour period of morning and afternoon peak hours. The collected data were then analysed according to Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) 2010 to determine Level of Service (LOS). By using the traffic volume collected, the LOS was estimated for Tudan Road as a secondary road prior to upgrading. The results indicated that the LOS during weekend afternoon has improved from Level F to B for Lutong-Kuala Baram Road intersection and Level F to D for Kuala Baram Bypass intersection after the upgrading of Tudan Road to dual carriageway. During weekday afternoon, the LOS for both intersections has also improved. The LOS for both intersections varied between morning and afternoon, and between weekday and weekend. The variation is caused by changes in lane capacity and volume-to-capacity ratio for different periods when the road users might actively commute for daily work or some leisure activities. Intersection delay time reduced 50% at Lutong-Kuala Baram Road and 74% at Kuala Baram Bypass after the road upgrading. From the LOS analysis, it proved that the upgrading of Tudan road has improved intersection performance at Lutong-Kuala Baram Road and Kuala Baram Bypass with different levels depending on morning or afternoon, and weekday or weekend.