Improvement of Multi-Lane Airport Highway in Baghdad-Iraq

Abstract

Transportation industry is basically a service sector component. It is a great importance for traffic engineers and planners to understand and evaluate the quality of service provided by transport facilities. Highway Capacity Manual (HCM), with all its revisions since 1950, is the pioneer document in this area. It quantifies the concept of capacity for a transport facility and lays the foundations for estimating the level of service (LOS) being provided by that facility to its users. This study is an engineering project management. It is about evaluation and improving multi-lane highways in Iraq. The research study was conducted on one main multi-lane airport highway in Baghdad, including: Al-Dora intersection to Al-Rashid interchanges, where this highway is considered as a major highway with high traffic volume in Iraq. HCS-2010 program software was used to evaluate and improve the level of service and traffic conditions for the highway for existing conditions (year of the study-2018) and short-term conditions (2023). The evaluation shows that all segments are operating at LOS E or LOS F for existing conditions, short-term conditions. The segments that operated at LOS E or LOS F for existing, short-term and mid-term conditions improvements are suggested by modifying the geometric and traffic conditions and changing the highway to a freeway facility; in order to operate at better LOS. A management flow diagram was prepared for decision makers to be a guide for future planning programs.