QUADRANT ROADWAY INTERSECTION Informational Guide
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QUADRANT ROADWAY INFORMATIONAL GUIDE | CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION QUADRANT ROADWAY INTERSECTION Informational Guide January 2020 QUADRANT ROADWAY INFORMATIONAL GUIDE U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE Washington, DC 20590 FOREWORD The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Every Day Counts (EDC) initiative is designed to identify and deploy innovation aimed at reducing project delivery time, enhancing safety and protecting the environment. In 2012, FHWA chose Intersection & Interchange Geometrics (IIG) to feature as one of the innovative technologies in the second round of EDC. Specifically, IIG consists of a family of alternative intersection designs that improve intersection safety while also reducing delay, lowering costs, and lessening impacts compared to traditional solutions. As part of the effort to mainstream these intersections, FHWA produced a series of informational guides to help transportation professionals routinely consider and implement these designs. During EDC2, FHWA developed and published guides for four designs: the Median U-Turn (MUT), Restricted Crossing U-turn (RCUT), Displaced Left Turn (DLT), and Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI). This Quadrant Roadway (QR) Intersection Informational Guide is now the fifth in the series, and is intended to inform project planning, scoping, design and implementation decisions for QR intersections. An electronic version of this document is available on the Office of Safety website at http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/. Additionally, limited quantities of hard copies are available from the Report Center; inquiries may be directed to [email protected] or 814-239-1160. Michael S. Griffith Director Office of Safety Technologies Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document. Quality Assurance Statement The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement. ii QUADRANT ROADWAY INFORMATIONAL GUIDE Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. FHWA-SA-19-029 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Quadrant Roadway Intersection Informational Guide January 2020 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Authors 8. Performing Organization Report No. Jonathan D. Reid; Joseph E. Hummer Project 13517 9. Performing Organizations Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) Arcadis VHB 5420 Wade Park Drive, Suite 350 940 Main Campus Drive #500 11. Contract or Grant No. Raleigh, North Carolina 27609 Raleigh, NC 27606 TO DTFH61-00023-T-13002 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Technical Report / Informational Report U.S. Department of Transportation November 2018 to December 2019 Federal Highway Administration Office of Safety 14. Sponsoring Agency Code 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE FHWA Washington, DC 20590 15. Supplementary Notes Jeffrey Shaw ([email protected]), Office of Safety Technologies (http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/), served as the Technical Manager for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The following FHWA staff contributed as technical working group members, reviewers and/or provided input or feedback to the project at various stages: Dr. Wei Zhang, Mark Doctor, Tim Taylor, Dave Petrucci and Dr. Hillary Isebrands. Dr. Joseph Hummer ([email protected]), North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) State Traffic Management Engineer, served as Document Technical Manager. The following NCDOT staff contributed as technical working group members, reviewers, and/or provided input or feedback to the project at various stages: Jason Moore, Jason Galloway, Hanna Cockburn, and Renee Roach. Other contributors included: Brian Fowler, City of Norfolk, VA. 16. Abstract This document provides information and guidance on Quadrant Roadway (QR) intersections, resulting in designs suitable for a variety of typical conditions commonly found in the U.S. To the extent possible, the guide addresses a variety of conditions found in the U.S., to achieve designs suitable for a wide array of potential users. This guide provides general information, planning techniques, evaluation procedures for assessing safety and operational performance, design guidelines, and principles to be considered for selecting, planning, designing, and implementing QR intersections. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement QR Intersection, Quadrant Roadway, Quadrant Left, Alternative Intersection, No restrictions. Innovative Intersection, Reduced Conflict Intersection 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 180 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed pages authorized iii QUADRANT ROADWAY INFORMATIONAL GUIDE iv QUADRANT ROADWAY INFORMATIONAL GUIDE TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 — INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW OF ALTERNATIVE INTERSECTIONS AND INTERCHANGES ................... 1 INTERSECTION CONTROL EVALUATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS ......................... 1 ORGANIZATION OF THE GUIDE .......................................................................................... 2 SCOPE OF THE GUIDE ............................................................................................................ 3 QUADRANT ROADWAY INTERSECTION OVERVIEW .................................................... 3 QUADRANT ROADWAY APPLICATIONS ........................................................................... 6 GEOMETRIC DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................... 9 RESOURCE DOCUMENTS .................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2 — POLICY AND PLANNING .......................................................................... 23 PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS FOR ALTERNATIVE INTERSECTIONS ..................... 23 STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH ............................................................................................... 27 POLICY CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................................ 30 PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................................... 31 PLANNING CHALLENGES ................................................................................................... 31 PROJECT PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................... 32 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS ................................................................................. 33 SUMMARY OF QR INTERSECTION ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES ........... 34 CHAPTER 3 — MULTIMODAL CONSIDERATIONS ........................................................ 37 DESIGN PRINCIPLES AND APPROACH ............................................................................ 37 PEDESTRIANS ........................................................................................................................ 39 BICYCLISTS ............................................................................................................................ 45 TRANSIT VEHICLE CONSIDERATION .............................................................................. 51 HEAVY VEHICLE CONSIDERATIONS ............................................................................... 53 CHAPTER 4 — SAFETY .......................................................................................................... 55 SAFETY PRINCIPLES ............................................................................................................ 55 SAFETY CONCERNS ............................................................................................................. 61 INCIDENT RESPONSE CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................... 65 OBSERVED SAFETY PERFORMANCE ............................................................................... 65 SUMMARY OF SAFETY EVALUATION CONSIDERATIONS ......................................... 68 CHAPTER 5 — OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS .................................................... 69 OPERATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................... 70 SIGNAL CYCLE LENGTHS, PHASING AND COORDINATION ...................................... 79 v QUADRANT ROADWAY INFORMATIONAL GUIDE THROUGHPUT AND FLOW RATES .................................................................................... 84 COMPARATIVE PERFORMANCE STUDIES AND LITERATURE REVIEWS ................ 85 CHAPTER 6 — OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 93 OPERATIONAL