DETERMINATION OF INTERCHANGE TYPES ON FREEWAY FACILITIES: SYSTEMS ENGINEERING APPROACH

THIS PAPER PRESENTS A SYSTEMATIC APPROACH AND RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE FOR ACCOMPLISHING THE TASK OF SELECTING THE APPROPRIATE FORM OF INTERCHANGE FOR A GIVEN SET OF CONDITIONS. THE GENERAL PROCEDURE IS OUTLINED AS FOLLOWS: PROBLEM DEFINITION, SOLUTION GENERATION, SOLUTION ANALYSIS, EVALUATION AND OPTIMIZATION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT. ESTABLISHING A DEFINITE DESIGN POLICY FEATURE OF SINGLE EXITS ON THE RIGHT ALONG THE FREEWAY OBVIOUSLY PROVIDES A GREATLY SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE FOR INTERCHANGE SELECTION. THE APPLICATION OF SUCH POLICY TO NEW DESIGNS AND TO RECONSTRUCTION OF EXISTING INTERCHANGES WOULD EVENTUALLY PERMIT A UNIFORM SYSTEM OF OPERATION AND SIGNING, AND SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN SAFETY. DIAGRAMS ARE GIVEN OF GEOMETRIC FORMS. /AUTHOR/