RAMP-FREEWAY TERMINAL OPERATION AS RELATED TO FREEWAY LANE VOLUME DISTRIBUTION AND ADJACENT RAMP INFLUENCE

ANALYSIS OF THE DATA COLLECTED DURING THE NATIONWIDE FREEWAY RAMP CAPACITY STUDY AND A 1963 NATIONWIDE STUDY OF WEAVING AREAS IS PRESENTED. THE EMPHASIS IN THIS REPORT IS ON EQUATIONS FOR DETERMINING TRAFFIC VOLUMES IN LANE 1, THE RIGHT-HAND FREEWAY LANE, AT MERGING AND DIVERGING SECTIONS ALONG THE FREEWAY. THE MAIN PREMISE IS THAT IF THE LANE 1 VOLUME CAN BE KEPT AT AN ACCEPTABLE LEVEL, THE FREEWAY AS A WHOLE WILL BE OPERATING FREE-FLOW. AUXILIARY LANE USAGE BETWEEN ON- AND OFF-RAMPS IS DISCUSSED AND A METHOD OF CAPACITY ANALYSIS IS ILLUSTRATED WITH A SAMPLE PROBLEM. TWO- LAND ON-RAMP OPERATION IS ANALYZED FROM THE STANDPOINT OF THE MULTIPLE MERGES TAKING PLACE. WHILE DATA ON MAJOR FORK OPERATION WERE VERY SPARSE, ONE EQUATION WAS DERIVED TO ENABLE FORECASTING OF LANE VOLUME DISTRIBUTIONS UPSTREAM FROM A DIVERGING MAJOR FORK WHERE THREE LANE SPLIT INTO TWO, TWO-LAND ROADWAYS. RESULTS ARE GIVEN OF ON-RAMP VEHICLE FREEWAY LANE USAGE STUDIES MADE IN DETROIT ON THE 6-LAND EDSEL FORD EXPRESSWAY. REFERENCES' CAPACITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF RAMP-FREEWAY CONNECTIONS , HIGHWAY RESEARCH RECORD NO. 27.