A Comparison of Non-traditional Intersection Designs Using Microscopic Simulation

In light of the growing traffic demand and the futility of the conventional solutions, many states have been considering alternative intersection designs. Researchers have demonstrated the benefits of several unconventional intersection designs and their implementation at different sites throughout the United States and abroad have delivered significant improvement in traffic compared to the conventional intersections. A signalized and un-signalized roundabout, a Continuous Flow Intersection (CFI), and a Parallel Flow Intersection (PFI) have been evaluated and compared in this research as viable alternatives to the traditional four-legged intersection. Using traffic microsimulation platforms, AIMSUN and VISSIM, models of each intersection are evaluated for low, medium, and high entrance volumes. The analysis revealed that the Roundabout performs better at low entering volumes while the CFI yields better results at high volumes. Statistical analysis of the results indicated that it was not possible to statistically differentiate between the average delay time estimates obtained from AIMSUN and VISSIM within 95% confidence level.