METHODS OF DESCRIBING THE CONSEQUENCES OF ALTERNATIVE ROAD SCHEMES

The public is demanding more and more information about road projects which have great environmental impact. Questions being asked are: (1) Is the road needed? (2) Is the proposed route the best? (3) What are the consequences of the different alternatives? (4) What happens if no road is built? The Swedish Road Administration is actively endeavouring to provide more information. Road planning may be divided into 3 stages, (1) location, which is 15-10 years before construction, (2) design, 10-5 years (3) detail design, 5-0 years. In stage 1, a decision is made regarding the general route of the road and information can be in the form of leaflets, exhibitions and meetings. In stage 2 road standard and alignment are decided, and information can be given in the local press and radio, computer pictures can be presented, etc. Stage 3 mainly concerns only the affected land owners. The quality of a road can be expressed in terms of journey time and accident index. Journey time is calculated for a free vehicle and is then reduced with regard to traffic volume and composition. The accident index is a prediction of the risk of an accident per vehicle km. The road data bank plays an essential part in these predictions. /TRRL/