PRINCIPLES OF HIGHWAY DESIGN

CONSISTENCY
- fundamental principle in transportation engineering and road design
- uniform and cohesive planning, design, and construction of all elements of a highway to ensure safety,
efficiency, and predictability for road users
- critical for providing a seamless and reliable transportation network.

Key aspects of consistency in highway design

1. GEOMETRIC DESIGN CONSISTENCY
- uniform and coherent layout of the highway's various geometric elements
- helps create a predictable and easy-to-navigate roadway system.
 Horizontal Alignment: Ensure that the curves and straight sections of the road are designed
consistently, considering design speed, sight distances, and driver expectations.
Curves and Tangents: Ensuring smooth transitions between curves and tangents in the
horizontal alignment
Consistent Curve Radius: Maintaining consistent curve radii within a highway segment

 Vertical Alignment: Maintain consistent grades and vertical curves

Gradual Changes in Elevation: Avoiding steep and sudden changes in road grade by providing
smooth vertical curves
Uniform Grades: Maintaining consistent grades along the highway to avoid frequent shifts

 Lane Widths and Shoulder Widths: Maintain consistent lane widths throughout the highway and
ensure uniform shoulder widths to provide safe stopping and emergency areas for vehicles.
 Clear Zone: Maintain a consistent clear zone, free of obstacles to enhance safety

2. TRAFFIC CONTROL CONSISTENCY:

 Signage: Ensure consistent placement and visibility of road signs (regulatory, warning, and guide signs)
Signalization: Maintain consistent signalization at intersections (traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, and
crosswalks)
Markings: Ensure uniform and clear pavement markings (lane lines, crosswalks, and edge lines)
Traffic Signal Timing: Coordinate traffic signal timing for consistency in traffic flow, especially at
signalized intersections along the highway.
3. SAFETY CONSISTENCY:
 Safety Features: Implement consistent safety features ( guardrails, crash cushions, and barriers)

4. ENVIRONMENTAL AND AESTHETIC CONSISTENCY:

 Landscaping: Maintain a consistent approach to landscaping, vegetation control, and aesthetics to
enhance the appearance and environmental harmony of the highway.

5. MAINTENANCE CONSISTENCY:
 Materials and Construction: Use consistent materials and construction techniques to ensure the
longevity and durability of the highway.
 Routine Maintenance: Develop and follow consistent maintenance schedules and procedures to keep
the highway in good condition.

6. USER EXPERIENCE CONSISTENCY:

 Driver Expectations: Ensure that the highway design aligns with driver expectations, allowing for a
consistent and predictable driving experience.
 Way finding: Implement consistent way finding elements to help road users navigate the highway
efficiently.

Consistency in highway design enhances safety, improves traffic flow, reduces confusion, and contributes
to a positive overall user experience. It also aids in effective maintenance and management of the
highway infrastructure. Transportation authorities, engineers, and planners adhere to established design
standards and guidelines to achieve this consistency and ensure that highways function as an integrated
and reliable part of the transportation network.

3.2 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

Roads and highways - strips of land that have been cleared and further improved for movement of
people and goods.
Road - generally used to describe a public thoroughfare can also refer to railways.
Highway - term first used in England to describe a public road built by digging ditches and heaping up
the earth now connotes “a higher state of development than road”
Expressway - is a divided arterial highway with full or partial control or access with grade separation at
major intersections.
Freeway - is an expressway with full control of access
Control of Access - condition where rights of owners or occupants of adjoining land in connection with a
highway is fully or partially controlled by public authority.
Full Control of Access - The authority to control access is exercised by providing access connections to
selected public roads only. Crossing at grade or direct private driveway connections is not permitted.
Partial Control of Access - there may be some crossings at grade and some private connections allowed
Through Street or Through Highway - Every highway or portion thereof on which vehicular traffic is
given preferential right of way, and at the entrance to which vehicular traffic from intersecting highways
is required by law to yield right of way to vehicles on such through highway in obedience to either stop
sign or yield signs erected thereon
Parkway - is an arterial highway for non-commercial traffic, with full or partial control of access usually
located within a park or ribbon park-like development
Arterial Street - is an arterial route that carries traffic to the nearest access point or through traffic and
often serves as the most advantageous routes for relatively long distance travel. In addition, arterials
provide access to adjacent property but often with restrictions on entry and exit points. Arterial street is
considered as a “make do” substitute for controlled access facilities when traffic volume exceeds about
20,000 vehicles per day.

Basic considerations in planning ARTERIAL ROADWAYS

1.Selection of routes
2.Studies of traffic volume
3.Origin and destination
4.Accident experienced
5.Width should not be less than 15meters
6.Must carry at least one lane of traffic in each direction
7.Should be at least one kilometer in length
8.Should skirt neighborhood areas rather than penetrate them
9.On grid design system streets, arterials are spaced at about 600 to 900 meters apart
10.Where accident hazard is not a factor

DURING PEAK HOURS

1.Parking is prohibited on one or both sides of the street
2.Parking is prohibited several meters away from each side of the road intersections or corners
3.Right turn is allowed on red signals anytime with care
4.Left turns are eliminated on congested intersections
5.The direction of traffic is reversed in the center lane to provide more lanes in the direction of heavier
traffic flow
Collector Street - form smaller mesh grid pattern where passengers are pick up from service streets and
carried to the arterials.
Local Road - is defined as street or road primarily for access to residence, business, or other adjoining
properties and is constructed and maintained by the local government
Highway Capacity - is defined as the maximum number of vehicles expected to pass a given point over a
given period of time
 1. Under ideal conditions, one freeway lane can accommodate about 2,000 passenger cars per
hour.
2. Two lane road can carry up to 1,000 passenger cars per hour in each direction.

AADT or ADT - refers to traffic volume or flow on a highway as measured by the number of vehicles
passing a partial station during a given interval of time. It is called “Average Annual Daily Traffic” if the
period is less than one year. Volume maybe stated on hourly “Observed Traffic Volume” or estimated
30th hour volume commonly used for design purposes. Some highway agencies use traffic volume for 5
minutes interval to distinguish short peak movement of vehicles.

CONSISTENCY
The most important single rule in highway design is consistency. Consistency is met by making every
element of the roadway aligned with the expectation of every driver.
Drivers expect the highway agency to provide them with:
1. Clear information and guidance through a variety of road signs.
2. Avoiding abrupt changes in the traffic as well as the road standards.

Roadway facilities can be considered satisfactory if their guides and directions could be planned properly
to convey one single message at a time, and if their directions will be followed smoothly and easily
without undue haste or change in speed.

3.3 ELEMENTS/ COMPONENTS OF HIGHWAY

The basic components of the highway are:
1. The cross slope or camber
2. Carriageway or pavement
3. Medians
4. Curbs
5. Road margins
6. Width of roadway
7. Right of way
This geometric elements are designed and influenced by the characteristics of the vehicle, physiology of
the driver and the traffic of the region.

1. Cross slope or Camber. It is the slope provided in the transverse direction of the pavement or
carriageway. The camber helps to drain off the rainwater from the road surface. Generally, the value
of cross slope varies from 1 in 60 to 1 in 25.
2. Carriageway or pavement. The portion of the highway that is paved or which traffic is meant to
move is called the pavement or the carriageway. The carriageway or the pavement that is designed
specifically for the movement of one line of traffic is called the traffic lane. Generally, for single lanes
with a maximum width of 2.44m, the width of the lane is desirable to have 3.75m. For the
pavements designed to have more than two lanes, the width is supposed to be 3.5m.
3. Medians. This are traffic separators, its main function is to prevent collision of the vehicles that
are moving in the opposite direction on two adjacent lanes.
4. Curbs. curbs are desirable to be constructed for urban roads, they are boundary bet pavement
and foothpath
5. Road margins. road margin includes shoulders, bus bays, parking lanes, sidewalks or footpaths
a. Shoulders: provided along the edge of the road. It serves the purpose of accommodating
vehicles that are compelled to be taken out of the pavement or the roadway, can be used by
broken down vehicles as service lane.
b. Bus Bays: constructed by recessing the curb, hence, should not conflict with the moving
traffic.
c. Parking Lanes: this are constructed mainly for urban roads allowing curb - parking.
d. Footpaths or Sidewalks: special area allotted for pedestrian movemen this is provided to
decrease accidents for pedestrian.

6. Width of Roadway. This total width is the sum of the width of the pavement, including the
separator (if any) and the road margin.
7. Right of Way. The area of land that is acquired for the construction of road along its alignment is
called the right of way.