Introducing and Evaluating the Operational Performance of a New Interchange Design: The Continuous Green-T Median U-Turn Interchange

Abstract

This study proposes a new design called the continuous green-T median U-turn (CGT-MUT) interchange and evaluates its operational performance compared to three interchanges. The selected interchanges for comparison are the Superstreet, Single Point Diamond Interchange (SPDI), and the Synchronized interchange. The evaluation is based on a microsimulation environment created in VISSIM combined with ASC/3 Software-in-the-Loop signal controllers. The findings show that the CGT-MUT enhanced the network-wide and intersection-level operations regarding various measures of effectiveness. Additionally, while the CGT-MUT did not always outperform all the other designs in terms of the on-ramp turning traffic travel times, it outperformed the Superstreet and Synchronized in terms of the off-ramp turning traffic travel times and resulted in the least through traffic travel times for all the tested scenarios. Particularly, the CGT-MUT’s through travel times were 9% – 30%, 26% – 42%, and 13% – 38% less than those for the Superstreet, SPDI, and Synchronized interchanges, respectively.