THE USE OF DIAGRAMS IN HIGHWAY ROUTE LOCATION: AN EXPERIMENT

AN EXPERIMENT IS DESCRIBED WHICH USES DIAGRAMS FOR HIGHWAY LOCATION SELECTION. THE METHOD WAS SPECIFICALLY APPLIED TO THE SELECTION OF A SECTION OF THE INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM, ROUTE 1-91, WHICH IS TO RUN ROUGHLY NORTH-SOUTH IN AN AREA IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS. A COMBINATION IS USED OF THE FOLLOWING DIAGRAMS FOR 26 REQUIREMENTS: EARTHWORK COSTS, COMFORT AND SAFETY, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL LAND DEVELOPMENT, OBSOLESCENCE, INTERFERENCE DURING CONSTRUCTION, USER COST, SERVICES, TRAVEL TIME, PAVEMENT AND SUBGRADE COSTS, DRAINAGE PATTERNS, BRIDGE COSTS, LAND COSTS, EYESORES, NOISE, AIR POLLUTION, WEATHER EFFECTS, NON- RECOMPENSABLE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LOSSES, PUBLIC FINANCIAL LOSSES, MAJOR CURRENT TRAFFIC DESIRES, CATCHMENT AREAS, LOCAL ACCESSIBILITY AND INTEGRITY, FUTURE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, EXISTING TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, DUPLICATION OF FACILITIES, AND SELF-INDUCED CONGESTION. DIAGRAMS, OR UTILITY MAPS FOR EACH REQUIREMENT ARE COMBINED. BY CONCENTRATING ON THE CONFIGURATIONAL, OR PATTERN, PROPERTIES OF THE HIGHWAY AS A PATH, THE AMALGAMATION OF UTILITIES IS BASED ON THE SPECIFIC DETAILS OF INDIVIDUAL CHOICE SITUATIONS. THE REQUIREMENTS AND THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN PAIRS OF REQUIREMENTS MUST BE RESOLVED. A COMPUTER PROGRAM IS USED TO ANALYZE THE SET OF REQUIREMENTS AND THE SET OF CONFLICTS BETWEEN REQUIREMENTS. THE METHOD IS PRESENTED TO COMBINE THE 26 UTILITY DIAGRAMS DEFINED OVER TERRAIN POINTS, TO GET THE BEST PATH.