تقييم الاداء المروري لمنطقه مختارة من شبكه النقل في مدينه كربلاء

Evaluation of Traffic Operation at Selected Zone ‎of Roadway Network in Kerbala City

Under local traffic conditions, traffic system is difficult to be analyzed and optimized because it is a complex system with random and dynamic in nature. Holy Karbala is an important city in Iraq because of its place in the Islamic world. The increased number of pilgrims, the rapid growth of population, and the increased number of car ownership, in addition to the flourish of shopping centers, cafes and others activities, cause an increase in number of daily trips on most streets and intersections especially during peak hours.

This study deals with evaluation of traffic performance at selected zone in roadway network. This was done through the evaluation of intersections performance and urban streets performance at selected network, this is followed by suggestions of some improvement proposals, which varied from geometric improvement, to change intersection type completely.

The study area composed of five intersections associated with various urban streets. To carry out the above objective, traffic data is collected at the network in Karbala city. The video recording technique from Karbala police was used to collect the traffic data for (Sayed Jawda intersection, Al-Safeena roundabout, and Police central Al-Hussein neighborhood intersection). These data are abstracted from video films by hand calculations. While, the traffic data for (Saif Saad and Stadium intersection) were collected manually. Three program used in this study include (VISSIM10, SIDRA 7, HCS+7FT). VISSIM software was used for the evaluation of the signalized, unsignalized intersections, and roundabouts. SIDRA INTERSECTION software was used for the evaluation and analysis of unsignalized intersections, signalized intersections and roundabouts. Highway Capacity Software (HCS+7FT) was used for the evaluation and analysis of signalized and unsignalized  intersections and urban streets.

The output showed that Sayed Jawda, Police Central and Saif Saad intersections have warrants of traffic signal. The most of intersections as well as street segments operate with level of service (LOS F).

Some improvements were suggested to get an acceptable LOS. These proposal improvements varied from widening and adding a new lane for each approach for Al- Safeena roundabout to pavement remarking in addition to adding a new lane for (north and east) approach for Sayed Jawda intersection. The intersections (Police Central, Saif Saad and the Stadium) were improved by pavement widening.

The urban streets have been evaluated based on the new delay value after the improvements for the through movements, then improved to the acceptable level of service.