TTE242

ABSTRACT

Traffic congestion has been increasing in much of the world, both in developing and developed countries, and all indications are that it will continue to worsen, constituting a certain danger to the quality of urban life. The explosive increase in the number of cars and their indiscriminate use for reasons of convenience or status, especially in developing countries, are putting increasing pressure on the capacity of existing public roads. The present investigation analyzes the vehicular conflict hotspots during rush hours in the area located between the Catholic University of Temuco Campus San Juan Pablo II and Rudecindo Ortega Avenue, Temuco, Araucanía Region, Chile. The analysis of the conflict areas was carried out by measuring the level of service in the aforementioned area. For this purpose, two different methodologies were applied: the floating vehicle technique; for this technique, a route was chosen to be followed within the study area, during peak hours on days of maximum vehicular flow. The level of service was obtained as the percentage of stopped time with respect to the total travel time. The method of delays due to vehicle stopping was considered; where the average time spent stopped at the intersection was measured, using recordings of the study area during peak hours. Once the level of service of the area was obtained, the vehicular flows in the main directions present in the sector were analyzed. A topographic survey was carried out in a neighboring sector using the total station. With the data obtained on the level of service in different sectors of the existing infrastructure, in addition to the flow volumes present in the primary and secondary routes. Proposals for road geometric alternatives were created using AutoCAD software. These proposals were intended to satisfy the existing possibilities of movement, without the need to violate traffic regulations, as is the case with the existing infrastructure. Emphasis was also placed on a solution that did not require traffic lights as the main means of traffic control.

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