International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 10, Issue 03, March 2019, pp. 1393-1403, Article ID: IJCIET_10_03_136 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=10&Issue=3 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed VEHICLES FLOW MANAGEMENT ALONG INNER RING ROAD IN CHENNAI CITY Sampathkumar V* Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Deemed to be University, Chennai 600119, Tamilnadu, India M.M. Vijayalakshmi Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Deemed to be University, Chennai 600119, India, ABSTRACT 25.2 km long inner ring road (IRR) or State highway 2 is a six lane road and it is a major transportation corridor encircling the city of Chennai. It is emerging as a major industrial conurbation having many industrial estates, factories, workshops and Information technology parks. Along IRR from north to south five major intersections is there between Annanagar to Vadapalani. In this study three among five such as intersection near Annanagar, Koyambedu and near Chennai metropolitan development authority colony with a total length of 3.7km are studied. Near Koyambedu has been identified as the deadliest stretch of Chennai. Out of the 1,000 life loss due to road accidents in the city 300 were reported in this 3.7km in the past 18 months. Moreover it struggles with more volume of vehicles than its capacity which leads delay, queuing of vehicles and affect journey time. It needs an immediate attention where transportation system management is suggested to manage the vehicles flow. Keywords: Traffic flow, Inner ring road, intersection improvement, volume to capacity, transportation system management. Cite this Article: Sampathkumar V and M.M. Vijayalakshmi, Vehicles Flow Management along Inner Ring Road in Chennai City, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 10(3), 2019,pp. 1393-1403 http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=10&Issue=3 1. INTRODUCTION The transport demand in most of the Indian cities has increased with its population as a result of both natural birth rates and migration from rural areas and smaller towns. Indian urban population was doubled between 1981 and 2014 from 160 million to 352 million. The urban population had gone up from 17% in 1951 to 34% in 2014 and it is expected to increase up to http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1393 [email protected] Sampathkumar V and M.M. Vijayalakshmi 39% in the year 2021[1]. Road system is the major part to build the economy of the country. Economic development of the country depends on the infrastructure and the transportation system. India had the road network of 5.20 lakhs running kilometer (km) in 2015 and is the second largest network in the world. Increases in commercial and industrial activities have increases in household income and lead more number of own vehicle. Traffic congestion is experienced because the supply of urban transport networks could no longer meet the demand. Congestion and delay in both passenger and commercial traffic are widespread in Indian cities and indicate the seriousness of their transport problems [2]. Although India has a lower vehicle ownership rate compared to the developed countries, they suffer from worse congestion than cities in industrialized countries. In Kolkata, the average speed during peak hours in central business district area goes down to 7kmph. This indicates waste of time, energy loss and high level of pollution which result a serious decline in productivity and efficiency of the city [3]. Tamilnadu (TN) is located in southern part of India, has 2.0 lakhs km of road in which 14500 km are National and State highways. There are 25 National highways (NH) in TN out of which 12 NH runs within TN. Chennai is the fourth largest metropolitan city of India and the capital of TN, located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. Chennai metropolis with latitude between 12˚50ʾ49ʾʾ and 13˚17ʾ24ʾʾ and longitude between 79˚9ʾ53ʾʾ and 80˚20ʾ12ʾʾ also the gateway of South East Asia, needs to wrestle against the traffic congestion. Chennai covers an area of 426sq.km and recorded a population of 46.81 lakhs in 2011. The Chennai metropolitan area which extends over an area of 1189 sq.km recorded the population of 86.96 lakhs in 2011 and the density was 11,000 per sq.km. The population of Chennai is 7.5 million, with a population density of about 6500 per sq.km. This rapid increase in population leads to traffic congestion and imbalanced supply and demand of transport facilities. The growth trend of motor vehicles in the Chennai city indicates the continuous urbanization in the years to come. Factors contributing to travel demand are the increase in trip length due to an increase in the physical expansion of the city. Travel demand is increasing at the rate of 2.2% in Kolkata, 4.6% in Mumbai, 9.5% in Delhi and 6.9% in Chennai every year. In Chennai the personalized vehicles account for 31%. Chennai city has a road length of 2780 km. It has four radial NH, one leads to Kolkata (NH5), second leads to Bangalore (NH4), third lead to Trichy (NH45) and forth to Thiruvallur (NH205) and had three circumferential roads such as inner ring road (IRR), intermediate ring road and outer ring road. Many of the Chennai roads carry traffic volume more than its capacity. The inevitable result is delay, congestion, road accidents and poor quality of riding surface, inadequate pedestrian facilities and lighting and lack of intersection facilities. In Chennai, the number of two wheelers experienced a remarkable increase from 87000 in1984 to 20,39,000 in 2008. Two wheelers constitute 77% of registered motor vehicles (it is 80% in Hyderabad, 75% in Bangalore, 64% in Delhi, 45% in Kolkata and 42% in Mumbai). With the present level of congestion, intersections are critical which are used by all the road users such as commercial, light vehicles and pedestrians. It is the place of challenge to safety with numerous conflict opportunities. Traffic system management (TSM) can be introduced to upkeep the flow which is very effective in tackling the urban traffic congestion. TSM is a short term measure to make the most productive and cost–efficiency use of existing transportation facilities but to alter the pattern of traffic flow, so that the conflict between vehicles and pedestrians are reduced. Well known TSM measures are restrictions on turning movements, one–way streets, tidal flow operations, exclusive bus-lanes and closing the side streets etc. [4]. TSM also embraces travel demand management (TDM). TDM techniques are aimed to reduce the traffic flow during the peak hours. This system proves to enhance the traffic operations and safety of road users. The review of literature narrates the increased http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1394 [email protected] Vehicles Flow Management along Inner Ring Road in Chennai City importance of urban traffic flow, intersection improvement and convenience of pedestrian, real-time control strategies, Figure 1 Inner ring road (or) Jawaharlal Nehru salai (or) State Highway 2 Application of TSM, TDM and ITS concepts which are advocated by [5], [6], [7], [8], [9] and [10]. 2. STUDY AREA The IRR also known as Jawaharlal Nehru Salai or 100 Feet road or State Highway 2 (SH2) is a major transportation corridor encircling the city of Chennai. It was developed by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA). It is a six lane road and 25.2 km long with three distinct arms such as northern arm, central arm and southern arm. The northern arm of IRR starts from SH104 near Manali to Padi Junction. It also connects NH5 at Madhavaram. The central arm extends from NH205 Padi junction to Kathipara junction at NH45. The northern and central arms together form the SH2. The southern arm of IRR extends from NH45 at officers training academy at Kathipara junction to Taramani link road at IT corridor and it is shown in Figure 1. IRR is emerging as a major industrial conurbation having many industrial estates, factories, workshops and many IT parks, other offices were mush-roomed in recent years. It falls under sub-arterial classification but functionally it is similar and complete with arterial roads [11]. Both public transport and personalized vehicles are plying heavily on the road. It is highly congested with its vehicles and the present condition is shown in Figures 2. The peak volume was7000 PCE in 1999 and increasing day by day [2]. IRR has much major and minor intersection. From north to south five major intersections are there between Annanagar to Vadapalani in which three are concentrated in this study such as Grand northern trunk road and 17th main road (3 arm) intersection near Annanagar (13.091001, 80.198693), Mumbai highway and Kaliamman koil street (3 arm) intersection near Koyambedu (13.072277, 80.202161) and Mumbai highway and Ashok nagar main road (West), Vinayagapuram main road (East) (4 arm) intersection near http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1395 [email protected] Sampathkumar V and M.M. Vijayalakshmi Figure 2 Jamming flow at Mumbai Highway or Jawaharlal Nehru Salai CMDA colony and Vadapalani (13.063685, 80.211722). The locations of these three intersections with a road length of 3.7km are shown in the Figure 3. The major locations in the study stretch are Annanagar, Koyambedu and Vadapalani. Annanagar is a neighborhood of Chennai, located in the north-west and forms a part of the Aminjikarai taluk and the Annanagar zone. It is the prime residential area of Chennai. Here the roads are laid in grid pattern such as 2nd, 4th and 6th avenues run east-west and 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th avenues run north- south.