Effects of changing highway design speed |
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| Authors: | Jaisung Choi Richard Tay Sangyoup Kim |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Transportation Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul, South Korea;2. Chair in Road Safety Management, Faculty of Law and Management, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
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| Abstract: | In an effort to increase the operational efficiency of highways, South Korea has been increasing its design speed recently. However, the use of higher design speed will also increase construction costs. Moreover, increasing the design speed is expected to have an impact on safety. Hence, there is a strong need to demonstrate that the benefits outweigh the cost of having a higher design speed. This study surveyed a sample of design engineers to determine their awareness of the consequences of increasing design speed and their assessment of the right design speed for an actual rural arterial road. In addition to the survey, a case study of three recently upgraded highways was conducted to determine the changes in traffic volumes, speeds, travel times and accidents. The construction costs associated with the upgrades were also reported. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | design speed accidents traffic flow construction costs South Korea |
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