Harmonization of Light Rail Transit and Principal Arterial Streets (A Case Study on the Addis Ababa East-West LRT Line and Principal Arterial Streets)
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Date
2013-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The introduction of New Light Rail Transit Systems into a city has proven to bring positive effects on property values and it contributes an important role to the development of a city by taking a greater share of Public Transport Demand. For the case of Addis Ababa, where the public transport demand is growing at an alarming rate due to the continued rise in population, the new East-West LRT system which is under construction means a lot to the transformation of the city. The new system is believed to attract more new investment, promotes economic activity and enhances healthy living. However, these benefits will be achieved if and only if the new LRT system is properly harmonized with the Existing Arterial Streets.
The four major criteria taken to discuss harmonization of Light rail transits system and Principal Arterial Streets are accessibility, safety, aesthetics and impact on traffic congestion. As a case study, the Addis Ababa E-W Light Rail Transit System Project is assessed with respect to Harmonization in regard to location interval of LRT stations, accessibility, provision of parking lots, safety and aesthetics from the scientific stand point of view and best practices already indicated in the literature review part of this paper. In order to assess impact on traffic congestion (the possible additional delay to be induced) at Intersections after the introduction of new Light Rail Transit System into existing Principal Arterial Streets, primary data was collected at four selected junctions of Addis Ababa E-W corridor where the LRT crosses at grade with the existing principal street intersections. Peak hour traffic data was collected and geometric elements of the study junctions was measured for the purpose.
In the assessment of impact of traffic congestion due to the new LRT system, the result revealed that there is an additional delay to the normal control delay at the three junctions (Beshale Hotel Round About, CMC Round About and Ayat Round about) where the LRT crosses at-grade. With the existing geometric condition and future projected traffic, in 2016 the left turn movements will face about 41.7 sec/vehicle of additional average delay after the introduction of Light Rail transit. On the other hand, the through traffic of North-South direction at these locations will experience more additional delays of about 47.7 sec/vehicle on average. At Bambis Intersection, since the LRT is separated from the city street traffic with median curb stone and North-South Crossing is prohibited, additional delays are not observed. Instead, the through traffic of East-West direction at this junction is observed to experience less control delay than before due to the decrease in conflicts of North and South crossing traffic.
In the end, meaningful suggestions have been briefed that can help better harmonization of LRT systems and principal arterial streets for the future development of the city.
Keywords: LRT; Light Rail Transit; Principal Arterial Streets; Intersection; Junction; Round About; Accessibility; Station; Integration; Harmonization; Impact; Control Delay
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Keywords
LRT; Light Rail Transit; Principal Arterial Streets; Intersection; Junction; Round About; Accessibility; Station; Integration; Harmonization; Impact; Control Delay