EVALUATION AND IMPROVEMENT OF RAMP JUNCTIONS ON MULTILANE URBAN ARTERIAL STREETS

Ramp-freeway junctions are almost designed to allow high-speed and high capacity merging and diverging with the minimum disruption to the adjacent traffic. One source of conflict on freeway weaving section, when the merge and diverge is short require vehicle to entering or exiting the freeway to execute it need one or more lane changes. The operational analysis of weaving, merging and diverging of rampjunction in freeway are applicable at multilane highway. The objective of study is to evaluate and improve the existing ramp and ramp junction in urban area. The study conducted in Amman-Jordan for major known cloverleaf interchange. Two types of analysis are conducted, weaving and ramp-junction analysis using highway capacity manual of 2010 (HCM-2010) methodologies. The highway capacity software program (HCS-2010) is applied for analysis and improvement of the selected cloverleaf interchange as a case study. The result of the analysis for the existing condition shows that the interchange is operating at LOS F for the weaving area. The improvement results of short-term and medium-term for the weaving area, merging and diverging of the ramp-junction for the selectedinterchange will be operated at LOS D or LOS C.