Analysis of Traffic Congestion on Mall Road Rawalpindi (Charging Cross to MH Intersection) for its Transformation Into a Singnal Free Throughfare by Using PIV VISSIM

Abstract

Due to ever expanding population and urbanization, there exists an extreme issue of traffic congestion on major city roads. Similar situation is currently being faced on Mall Road Rawalpindi especially starting from Chairing Cross to MH Intersection due to existence of commercial hub, expansive number of intersections within few kilometers, nonexistence of city bypass and presence of key installations on its outskirts i.e. Railway station, Military Hospital and various schools and colleges. Despite of various short term congestion mitigation measures taken by city authorities in the past few years, problem of traffic congestion on this road is still on the rise. With this perspective, this project was undertaken to carry out a detail analysis of selected road section and intersections to propose a long term viable solution. Necessary traffic data was obtained with the help of traffic police and on site video recording. PTV VISSIM software was used to simulate the existing level of service which ultimately helped in identification of key issues as well as finding viable solutions to make the selected road section a signal fee corridor, which included flyover, underpass, signal optimization and provision of additional and exclusive lanes. Implementation of this project will not only help in minimizing congestion and improving travel time but will also create an overall positive environmental impact on