Development of comprehensive passing lane guidelines volume 1: final report

This report documents research efforts directed at developing improved guidelines for designing and analyzing two-lane, two-way rural highway passing lanes. Phase I of this project involved selecting field study sites, collecting and analyzing passing lane data. Phase II involved a follow up field study and analysis of passing lane entrance design. Additional work included computer simulation of passing lane sections to perform sensitivity analysis and to test proposed guidelines. A total of five passing lane sections were used to collect empirical data in this research. At one site an after study was performed to collect and analyze data for an alternative passing lane entrance design. This report details the data collection and analysis performed at all sites. The TRARR and the TWOPAS computer simulation models were used to test findings and suggested guidelines in light of observed field data. Details concerning model calibration are included in this report. Additional analysis of the number of passes which occurred on studied passing lane sections was accomplished. The information gained from this work resulted in additional information about the benefit of a passing lane and the primary vehicle types that benefit (A).