CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A.

UBATAY
INTERSECTION AND DESIGN CONTROL
I. INTRODUCTION
Intersections play an important role in any network system. They are the points where traffic flow converges and
where direction of travel changes. Intersections may be categorized according to shape, type of structure, and type of
operation.
A. Shape
This refers to the configuration of the intersection and would depend largely on the number of legs. Carefully planned
and properly designed road networks often lead to intersections with simpler shape having lesser number of legs.
Some of the most commonly observed intersection configuration is the following:

B. Type of structure
Most of the intersections are either designed as at-grade intersection or grade separation such as flyovers or
interchanges. Almost all intersections are initially designed at-grade and are planned to be grade-separated in the
future to cope with high traffic volume. The type of grade separation depends largely on the extend of improvement it
would provide in terms of easing congestion or reducing traffic accidents.

C. Type of operation
Rules and regulations applied to a given intersection depend largely on the type of control which is in operation at that
intersection. The main objective is to simplify traffic flow. This is often achieved by reducing the number of conflicts of
vehicles.
An intersection operates as unchannelized or channelized, and unsignalized or signalized. Channelization often leads to
simplified movements of vehicles as it leads drivers to one conflict at a time. On the other hand, signalization greatly
crossing conflicts at the intersection area.

II. BASIC INETRSECTION DESIGN PRINCIPLES

When designing or improving an intersection, it is very important to follow some basic principles to avoid costly
mistakes that lead to lack of the intersection’s capacity or to its being accident-prone.

a. The maximum number of legs should be four. It has been shown that the number of conflicts increases
exponentially as the number of intersection legs increases.

b. Staggered intersections should be avoided. Due to proximity of the two side roads, inadequate length of storage
lane for left vehicles often causes blockage of the through traffic.
c. Main traffic flow should be near straight as possible. Sharp turns, such as left and right turns, cause unnecessary
reduction in traffic speeds.

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
d. Roads should not intersect at a small angle. Oblique intersections
pose potential hazards and cause high severity of accidents due to the
almost head-to-head collision of vehicles. An angle of 60 degrees
must be considered as the minimum.

e. Two intersections should be as far as possible from each other. In addition to the reason cited in (2), adequate
weaving sections may not be provided. As a rule of thumb, the distance between the two intersections must be

III. INTERSECTION DESIGN ELEMENTS

A. Turning geometry
The principal purpose of an intersection is to provide
change in the direction of travel. As a vehicle approaches
an intersection, the driver has to decide whether to go
straight or to turn to left or right. For turning movements,
a number of turning geometries may be considered, the
most direct of which is highly preferred. Configurations of
turning geometries are shown below:

These types of turning movements may be found as

elements of the interchanges shown below:

Types of Turning Movement

The different elements of an intersection are shown in figure 5.1. The adequacy in design of each element must be
carefully checked, considering traffic flow and availability of right of way.

The number of lanes for through, right, and left turn vehicles would depend on traffic volume, saturation flow rates, a
simple circular curve may be adequate for the design of the intersection corners and the turning roadway. However,
simple curve may not be enough for large intersections. The most common type of geometry for these intersections is
the three-centered curve as shown in figure 5.2.

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
IV. METHODS OF CONTROL OF INTERSECTIONS
Conflicts often occur at intersections. The more the number of legs an intersection has, the more the number of
conflicts it has. Figure 5.3 shows the number of conflicts of three-leg and four-leg intersections.

Conflicts may be classified as merging, diverging, or crossing conflicts. Table 5.1 gives a summary of these conflicts. The
total number increases exponentially with the number of legs of the intersection. Most of the problems at
intersections, like congestion and accidents, are caused by crossing conflicts.

Depending on the traffic volume using the intersection and the severity of conflicts, intersection control may fall under
any of the following categories:
a. Unsignalized
b. Signalized
c. Grade separation

A. Unsignalized Intersection
When two minor roads intersect, traffic may be assumed to arrive at any approach of the intersection in random
fashion. In this case, signals may not be necessary but some of control must be employed to ensure safety.
In the case of intersections where priority is clearly defined – a major road crossing a minor road, for instance – the
traffic on the minor road has to depend on available gaps at the major road to be able to cross or turn. For this kind of
intersections, reasonable controls for unsignalized intersections may be done through the use of traffic signs such as
YIELD or STOP sign.

B. Roundabout or Rotary
This is another form of unsignalized intersection that works best when the number of turning vehicles is almost equal
to the number of through vehicles. In a roundabout, all vehicles move counter clockwise in one-way fashion.
Movement is characterized by merging at very small angles, weaving, and diverging when leaving the intersection.
When traffic signals’ cost proved to be costly, roundabout is a good alternative.
C. U-Turn Slots
The U-turn scheme has been implemented at several intersections within Metro Manila for a number of years now.
Operation at U-turn slots is very similar to that of a roundabout except that it favors a particular road, which is
assumed to be the major road.

D. Signalized Intersection
The control of traffic intersections by traffic signals is done by separation in time, i.e., conflicts between opposing or
merging streams are prevented by giving the right of way to a given direction.

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY

E. Grade Separation
Grade separation eliminates the problematic crossing
conflicts of the different movements of vehicles.
Flyover/overpass, underpass, or full-blown interchanges
are some of the examples of grade separation. Some of
these grade separations or interchanges are shown in
figure 5.7. They provide the safest and most efficient
method of control but definitely the most costly, and
sometimes unaesthetic.

V. ANALYSIS OF UNSIGNALIZED INTERSECTIONS

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
A. Structure of Major Road Traffic

B. Critical Gap
The source of capacity of the minor
road flows is the available gaps
between major road flows. The critical
gap used to describe the minimum gaps
needed by drivers of minor road
vehicles. Values of critical gaps are
given in table 5.4 for different vehicle
maneuvres, speed limits, and highway
type.
C. Capacity
In the estimation of capacity of the
minor road flow, the basic capacity is
initially determined. Based on the major road flows given by Mh, and values of critical gap tg, the value of the
basic capacity Mno is read from the graph shown in figure 5.8.

The basic capacity is the maximum minor road flow, assuming that the following conditions are true:

a. The traffic on the major road Mh does not block the major road.
b. A turning lane is provided for the exclusive use of the minor road traffic stream.

If these conditions are not met, correction factors have to be implied based on the following considerations:

a. Congestion on the major road

If a traffic stream turning off the major road
becomes congested and thus interferes with the
minor road traffic, then the basic capacity is
reduced. A p-value is obtained from figure 5.9
and is applied as a reduction factor. The p-value
defines the probability that this minor road
traffic stream remains unaffected. The ration of
the actual flow and the capacity of the same
flow is initially used to determine the p-value.

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua
CE 5118 (TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING) INSTRUCTOR: A. UBATAY
b. Shared lanes
Shared lanes on the minor road approach are lanes in which two or more movements are confine in the same
lane. When corners of the intersection have a large turning radius, the effect of shared lanes may be minimal or
may be ignored since minor vehicles can stop side by side at the edge of the major road.
The capacity of the share lane can be determined using the equation

D. Passenger Car Equivalents

E. Reserve Capacity
The difference between the existing flow
and capacity is termed as reserve capacity.
The magnitude of delay and level of service
are directly related to this reserve capacity.
Table 5.6 is used for assessment purposes.
Overall evaluation or generalization may
have to be done after assessing each minor
traffic flow.

SAMPLE PROBLEMS:
1. Consider the channelized T-intersection with the minor road controlled by YIELD sign. There is no prevailing
speed limit. Evaluate the performance of the unsignalized intersection.

2. Evaluate the unsignalized intersection with the two minor road approaches controlled by STOP signs. The
traffic volumes shown are in vehicles per hour (vph). There is no prevailing speed limit.

Reference: Traffic engineering 4th edition, Roess/Prassas/McShane; Fundamentals of Traffic Engineering, R. Sigua