Improving the Sustainability of Transportation: Environmental and Functional Benefits of Right Turn By-Pass Lanes at Roundabouts

Marco Guerrieri, Ferdinando Corriere, Gianfranco Rizzo, Barbara Lo Casto and Gianluca Scaccianoce
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Marco Guerrieri: Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Ferdinando Corriere: Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Gianfranco Rizzo: Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Barbara Lo Casto: Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy
Gianluca Scaccianoce: Polytechnic School, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 9, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: The functional performances of conventional roundabouts (single-lane and multi-lane) and innovative roundabouts (spiral, flower, C and turbo) can be improved through right-turn bypass lanes controlled by stop, yield or free-flow signs. The article presents evaluations of the emissions of air pollutants (carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particle pollution (PM10 and PM2.5)), fuel consumption and construction, management, energetic and environmental costs in roundabouts without or with bypass lanes (controlled by stop, yield or free-flow). The suggested methodology has a general character and can be applied as a multi-parametric criterion for choosing road intersections, although, in the present paper, it has been employed only for a case study. For the aims of this research, we employed recent closed-form formulations to determine roundabout performances; moreover, we used the COPERT IV ® software to estimate air emissions in nine different types of vehicles. Numerous traffic simulations were carried out. The variation in the maximum hourly traffic Q max and annual traffic Q TOT provided the appropriate domains of the examined geometric layouts, both in functional and environmental terms and with regard to generalized costs, estimated for a 10-year period. It resulted that the introduction of right-turn bypasses in all arms of conventional roundabouts with a one ring lane and one lane at the entries (single-lane roundabouts) is the most cost-effective when the flows entering the roundabout are higher than Q max = 2000 veh/h. Moreover, free-flow bypass lanes always provide greater capacity and lower delays than stop- or yield-signaled bypasses. However, with extremely high Q max values, stop-controlled bypasses guarantee lower fuel consumption, while those with a yield sign lower total costs.

Keywords: roundabouts; bypass lane; capacity; pollutant emissions; fuel consumption; total costs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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