Prevalence of traffic kinematic wave at priority junction with entry hump

Abstract

The presence of traffic shockwave on any roadway irrespective of the causation is an indicator of inherent safety problem. Priority T-junction with road hump on one major arm was investigated for kinematic waves. Automatic traffic counters were installed at each lane of the T-junction for six weeks. Traffic volume, headway, vehicle type and travel speed data were collated and analysed. Results show that right turn movement from the minor will trigger positive traffic shockwave of about 20km/h, whereas the other turning movements are merely subjected to rarefaction waves. The paper concluded that road hump at the major road can be partly held accountable for the prevalence of traffic shockwave associated with right turn movements.