Development and Evaluation of a Detection-Control System for Rural Intersections (0-4022-1)

Traffic engineers are often faced with operational and safety problems at rural, high-speed signalized intersections. Vehicle-actuated control (combined with multiple advance detectors) is often used to minimize these problems. However, this type of detection-control system has not been as successful as intended. Rear-end crashes continue to occur in significant numbers at these intersections and delays to traffic movements are often unnecessarily long. The objective of this project is to develop and test an economical detection-control system that is capable of minimizing both delay and crash frequency at rural intersections.|This report describes findings from the first year of a two-year project. During the first year, a concept detection-control system was developed and evaluated. The development consisted of defining the system's functionality and the hardware needed to implement it in the field. The evaluation consisted of using simulation software to exercise the algorithm for a range of traffic and geometric conditions. The results of the evaluation indicate that the concept system is able to provide equal or lower delays for a reasonable range of speeds, volumes, and turn percentages. The results also indicate that the concept system will significantly reduce the number of vehicles caught in the dilemma zone at the onset of the yellow indication.