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Intersection Control
Intersection Control
Intersection Control
INTERSECTION
CONTROL
Submitted by:
- CONTROL PURPOSE
To assign the right of way to drivers, and thus to facilitate highway safety by
ensuring the orderly and predictable movement of all traffic on highways.
o Traffic Signal
o Traffic Signs
o Traffic Markings
At the broadest level, road traffic control includes the layout of streets to
serve a variety of travel needs in a region.
Highways or expressways carry through traffic at high speed. Arterial
streets carry traffic within and across urban areas which are designed to carry
volumes of motorized traffic. Traffic Control helps in mitigating traffic.
Road Traffic Control at its most elemental level is achieved using a system
of signs, signals, and markings.
- SIGNS
Inform road users of traffic laws and regulations which if disregarded will
constitute an offense.
- SIGNALS
Are devices placed along, beside or above a roadway to guide, warn, and
regulate the flow of traffic.
Traffic Signal Black Out - occurs if all traffic signal lights are not working
because of an electrical power failure. If this happens, all the traffic enforcers would
take over.
- MARKINGS
Bare roads will lead to total confusion. Markings are painted on the road to
direct, guide, and regulate the road users.
The lines, shapes and etc painted on the roads each have its own purpose
to indicate that a certain part of the road is only one way or is possible for a u-turn
etc.
CONFLICT POINTS
▪ Conflict points are points where two vehicles can potentially clash with each
other. It occurs when traffic streams that move in different directions interfere
with each other.
TYPES OF INTERSECTION CONTROL
● UNSIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS
- “Passive Control
- Controlled by stop or yield signs
- Area: Very less traffic
- Stop signs are usually in low-volume junction like on university campus
- Yield sign usually used in roundabout or blind curve.
o To drive in low speed
o Low rate of serious injury and fatal crashes
● SIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS
- “Active Control”
- Area: High traffic or High-volume junction
- Commonly used: Traffic Signals
- Traffic signals: red,yellow, green
- Estimating the capacity of each approach
- Accomodating the needs of various periods by optimizing the signal timing
at an intersection
- Coordinates movements from one section to the next
● SEMI-CONTROL INTERSECTIONS
SIGNAL TIMING
1. Offset- the time lapse, in seconds, between the beginning of a green phase at the
intersection and the beginning of a green phase at the next intersection.
2. Intergreen- the time between the end of a green indication for one phase and the
beginning of a green indication for another.
5. Interval- the part of or parts of the signal cycle during which signal indications do
not change
6. All-red interval- the display time of a red indication for all approaches. In some
cases, an all red interval is used exclusively for pedestrians crossing very wide
intersections.
7. Peak-hour factor- in the case of street intersections, the ratio of the number of
vehicles entering the intersection during the peak hour to four times the number
of vehicles entering during the 15-minute period.
8. Average Departure Headways- show that for green intervals of 20-30 seconds, the
average headway per vehicle is about 2.5 seconds.
9. Passenger-car Equivalents PCEs - to account for the adverse effects of
commercial vehicles and turning movements on startup time , it is customary to
convert actual flows to an equivalent volume in straight- through passenger cars.
Buses and Trucks- 1.5 PCE, Left Turn vehicles- 1.6 PCE
10. Approach- the portion of an intersection leg that is used by traffic approaching the
intersection
11. Capacity- the maximum number of vehicles that has a reasonable expectation of
passing over a given roadway or section of roadway in one direction during a given
time period under prevailing roadway and traffic conditions.
12. Critical Volume- a volume for a given street that produces the greatest utilization
of capacity for that street, given in terms of passenger cars or mixed vehicles per
hour per lane.
14. Green time- the length of green phase plus its change interval, in seconds.
15. Green ratio- the ratio of effective green time to the cycle length
16. Hourly Volume- the number of mixed vehicles that pass a given section of a lane
or roadway during a time period of an hour.
19. Passenger- car Volume- volume expressed in terms of passenger cars, following
the application of passenger-car equivalency factor to vehicular volumes.
20. Period Volume- a design volume, based on the flow rate within the peak 15 minutes
of the hour, and converted to an equivalent hourly volume.
21. Through Bus- a bus not having a designated stop at the intersection under
analysis
22. Truck- a vehicle having six or more wheels (tires) on the pavement
COMPONENTS OF SIGNAL SYSTEM
❖ a phase consists of both the yellow (amber) indication and the all-red indication.
❖ allow vehicles that are already beyond the point-of-no-return to continue through
the intersection safely
❖ “dilemma zone”, won’t have enough time to stop or safely cross the intersection
1. Stopping Distance
2. Intersection Clearance Time
Note: The intergreen time is equal to which is larger, the pedestrian crossing time or the
intersection clearance time.
Example:
S= 3 m
L= 4.2 m
W= 3.7 m
v= 11.1 m/s
Vp= 1.3 m/s
SOLUTION:
T= (3+4.2+3.7)/ 11.1
Traffic engineers used several methods for designing pretimed isolated signals. In recent
times, a number of computer programs were developed for rapid designs.
❖ Pre-timed Signals
o Pignataro’s Method
o Webster’s Method
The method developed by Homburger and Kell that utilizes traffic volumes as basis for
allocating time to approaches, keeping off-peak cycles as short as possible (40-60
seconds). Peak-hour cycles can be longer, favoring movement on the major streets.
Where:
W - distance from the stop line until the rear - vehicle is clear (ft)
v – speed
General Procedure of Homburger and Kell’s Method
1. Select yellow change intervals between 3-5 seconds for speeds less than 35
mph to speeds greater than 50 mph.
2. Determine the need for additional clearance time using the equation and lso
ensure if an all-red phase is necessary.
4. Compute minimum green times. With pedestrian signals, the “walk” period
should be at least 7 seconds.
6. Adjust the cycle length (sum of all greens and yellows) to the nxt-higher 5-
second interval and redistribute extra green times.
Sample Problem:
Time an isolated signal with pedestrian at the intersection of Pine and Oak: Pine
is 56 ft wide, Oak is 40 ft wide. During the peak hour, the critical lane volume are
350 and 250 veh/hr and approach speeds are 40 and 25 mph (58.7 and 36.7 ft/sec)
for Pine and Oak, respectively.
Solution:
Oak: 14 - 3 + 7 = 18 sec
Extra green time = 55 - 53 = 2sec; give 1 sec to Pine and 1 sec to Oak
Amber Period is the transition interval between of a red signal is called the
clearance amber.
Effective Green Period is a time during which a given traffic movement or set of
movements may proceed; it is equal to the cycle length minus the effective red
time.
Lost Time is the time lost at the beginning and termination of green phases due
to starting time and termination time. As soon as the signal turns green, the rate of
discharge (or vehicle movement) starts to pick up and some time is lost before the
flow reaches the maximum value. Similarly at the termination of the green phase,
the flow tends to taper off, involving a further loss of time
Sample Problem:
At the end of the amber period, there is an interval of less than 0.1 minute. The
length of this period and the number of vehicles crossing the stop bar are noted.
These intervals are referred to as the last saturated intervals. The observer noted
the following:
Saturated Flow = (2.33 + 2.00 + 1.86 + 1.73)/4 = 1.98 vehicles per 0.1 min
= 1188 veh/hr
The lost time at the beginning and end of the
green period may be calculated with reference
to the previous discussion. The number of
vehicles represented by the rectangle efij is
equal to the number of vehicles represented by
the original bars of the histogram. Also, the
number of vehicles represented by the area
dghk is also equal to the number of vehicles
represented by the four 0.1 min periods of
saturated flows between d and k. therefore, ….
Therefore, the lost time during the green phase is 2.82 seconds.
In this type of experimentation, it is important to note the following points:
1. If the flow on the approach is not saturated, observations should be discontinued
until the flow onge again reaches saturation level.
2. The distribution of trucks, buses, and other types of vehicles along with turning
movements is also important and should be recorded.
3. The effect of large vehicles and motorcycles is accounted by making the following
conversions (in passenger-car units)
1 passenger car or light commercial vehicle= 1.00 PCU
1 heavy or medium commercial vehicles = 1.75 PCU
Where:
➔ Webster’s model computes the approximate cycle length that minimizes the total
intersection delay as well as the effective green time for each approach, by
differentiating the equation for the overall delay wit respect to the cycle time. The result
is:
Where:
C0 = optimum cycle length
L = total lost time per cycle, generally taken as the sum of the total yellow and all-red
clearance per cycle
Y = observed volume/saturation flow, for critical approach in each phase
➔ The distribution of green time to each phase is proportional to the critical lane volumes on
each phase. For a two-phase intersection the net green time is
Where:
Where:
N1 - major street critical lane flow, the number of vehicle in a single lane
N2 - minor street critical lane
C - cycle length (sec)
S1 - approximate average headway entering the section among N1
S2 - corresponding average headway among N2
Y1 - vehicle clearance interval for N1 (sec)
Y2 - vehicle clearance interval for N2 (sec)
K - number of signal cycles for a 15 - minute period
TRAFFIC-ACTUATED SIGNALS
“Make the cycle time and green splits responsive to changes in traffic flow, down to the level of
microchanges”
At the beginning of a green phase, the maximum number of vehicles caught between the stop line
and the detector (including a vehicle stopped exactly over the detector) is given by formula 1
where:
l=is the average vehicle length
So = is the distance between nearest points of
consecutive stopped vehicles
A =distance location
Where:
l =is the average vehicle length
So =is the distance between nearest points of consecutive stopped vehicles
qs = is the saturation flow (pcu/hr)
tsd = is the start up delay
A = distance location
➔ UNIT EXTENSION of green - extension of green time by a fixed-time interval counted
from the moment of call. It must be long enough to allow a vehicle to cover the distance
from the detector to the stop line moving at a given approach speed, v
where:
h is the unit extension of green or vehicle interval
A distance location
The controller’s memory starts at blank in each green phase. If within Gmin seconds it
does not receive any calls from the detector, signifying additional vehicle arrivals, the
green may be switched to another phase. So the unit extension extends the green time.
For every call that the controller receives, the green time is extended by h seconds
measured from the moment when that vehicle is detected.
Safety considerations dictate that a detector be located no closer than the safe stopping distance
ahead of the stop line. This implies that a minimum length of unit extension is given by
hmin = Ssafe / v
where:
h = is the minimum unit extension of green or vehicle interval
A = distance location
Above this minimum, the length of the unit extension depends on traffic arrival rates. As
with fixed-time signals, it can be selected by referring to average delay or number of
stops.
A = v x h (ft)
where
v = approach speed of vehicles (ft/sec)
h = headway from step 1
This means that h seconds after the nth actuation, the light will turn amber just as the
nth vehicle is at the stop line, unless the (n+1)th actuation occurred.
3. Calculate the length of the minimum green that should be long enough to pass all the
vehicles that might accumulated between the stop line and the detector, plus one vehicle.
where:
l = average vehicle length
qs = saturation flow (pcu/hr)
So = distance between nearest points
tsd = start up delay of consecutive stopped vehicles
A = distance location
TIMING OF FULLY-ACTUATED TRAFFIC SIGNALS
4. Calculate the elements of the lost time: intergreen (amber, all red) and amber effectively
used as green, in the manner previously described.
5. Repeat the calculation for each approach; all components of the minimum cycle are
now ready.
6. Determine the maximum cycle length and the corresponding splits by using the
Webster formula for the optimum cycle, where q values should be maximum design flows
that can be expected during the day.
● Reduce the frequency of certain types of accidents, especially the right-angle type
● Effect orderly traffic movement
● Provide the continuous flow of a platoon of traffic through proper coordination at a
definite speed along a given route
● Allow other vehicles and pedestrians to cross a heavy traffic stream
● Control traffic more economically than by manual methods
BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS
- for each of any 8 hours of an average day, the traffic volumes given in the 100%
columns of condition A or B in Table 8-1 exist on the major street and on the higher-
volume minor-street approach to the intersection
- these major-street and minor-street volumes are for the same 8 hours
WARRANT 2: 4-HOUR VEHICULAR VOLUME
- The warrant defines curves representing vehicles per hour on the major street
(both directions) and on the higher-volume minor street approach (one
direction only)
- For each of any 4 high hours of an average day, the plotted points fall above the
specified curve for the existing combination of approach lanes
WARRANT 3: PEAK-HOUR
- this warrant combines pedestrian volumes and available gaps in vehicular traffic
at either intersection or midblock locations
- on an average day, there 100 or more pedestrians for each of any 4 hours, or 190
or more pedestrians in 1 hour crossing the major street
- only applies to locations where the nearest signalized intersection is more than
300 feet and the proposed new installation will not unduly affect progressive flow
- this warrant applies when the adjacent signal were so far apart that they do not
provide the necessary degree of platooning and speed control on a one-way or
two-way street
- the installation of a signal should not be considered where the resultant signal
spacing would be less than 1000 feet or 300 meters
C. There exists a volume of vehicular traffic not less than 80% of the requirements
specified in Warrant 1 or the volume pedestrian traffic is not less than 80% of the
requirements specified in Warrant 4
WARRANT 8: ROADWAY NETWORK
- progression along an important cross street can be as important as that along what
would normally be called the major street
- it is applicable when two or more major routes meet at a common intersection and
the total existing or immediately projected entering volume is at least 1000 vehicles
during the peak hour of a typical weekday and has a 5-day projected traffic
volumes
SIMULTANEOUS SYSTEM
All signals along the coordinated length of the street display the same aspect to the traffic
stream at the same time. This system reduces capacity and encourages the tendency to
travel at excessive speeds so as to pass as many signals as possible.
ALTERNATIVE SYSTEM
Alternative signals or groups of signals give opposite indications at the same time, which
means that if a vehicle travels the distance between intersections in half a cycle time, it
not stop. The cyle must be the same for all signals, so that the speed of progression is
constant.
PROGRESSIVE SYSTEM
Four basic elements are generally considered in the design of at-grade intersections:
1. Human factors, such as driving habits and decision and reaction times.
2. Traffic considerations, such as capacities and turning movements, vehicle speeds,
and size and distribution of vehicles.
3. Physical elements, such as characteristics and use of abutting property, sight
distance, and geometric features
4. Economics factors, such as costs and benefits and energy consumption.
Setting new signal timing parameters for efficient traffic flow is time-consuming and
expensive. Typically, this process involves five distinct steps:
1. Fulfill a need
2. Command attention
3. Convey a clear, simple meaning
4. Command respect of road users
5. Give adequate time for proper response
Signal timing is a task that frequently involves coordinating activities of many different
departments of the jurisdiction. For example, it is not unusual for the Planning Department
to provide the traffic counts and mapping data, and for the Traffic Engineering Department
to conduct the timing optimization analysis, with the Maintenance Shop performing the
actual parameter installation.
DATA COLLECTION
Signal retiming is not making simple adjustments to a few timing parameters in a
controller. Most jurisdictions follow a more complicated effort to retime a signal or group
of signals using modern computer programs and procedures.
OPTIMIZATION
Once the data are collected, the final step is to generate the optimized signal settings.
While this task can be accomplished manually, most engineers use a computer
program. There are a number of computer programs that can be used to generate
signal timing parameters.
These programs can be placed into one of two categories: those developed by the
private sector and those developed by the public sector.
References:
● Garber, N., Hoel, L. (2009). “ Traffic and Highway Engineering” (4th ed.)(p.331).
Cengage Learning
● Mackey, J., Stevanovic, A., & Ph, D. (2015). Signal Timing Optimization for.
January 1999, 1–5.
● Ponce, Javier. “Intersection Operations and Safety.” FDOT,
https://www.fdot.gov/traffic/TrafficServices/Intersection-Operations.shtm.
[Accessed 20 September 2021].
● Unknown. 2020, April 14). Intersection Control - Active & Passive Control.
Planning Tank. Retrieved September 22, 2021, from
https://planningtank.com/transportation/intersection-control.