Traffic Impact Study For Proposed Site of Dolmen Mall, DHA Lahore

Abstract

The metropolitan roads and highway network of the present major urban communities are working near limit. Spatial constraints and projected future traffic growth infer presenting measures and intercessions for the ideal utilization of the current space that give the best degree of service for travelers. Lahore being the second largest city, provincial capital of Punjab and focal point of economic activities draws traffic in rush hour gridlock from everywhere the country. Over the years, Lahore has extended and for all intents and purposes converged as urban center causing serious traffic congestions. Volume of traffic driving in Lahore is enormous and is expanding at a brisk pace which is expected to cause gridlocks, traffic interruption, more fuel consumption and endanger traffic well-being. To counter such impacts, major and minor interventions are required such as signal timing optimizations, coordinated signal controllers, increasing number of lanes, constructing grade-separated facilities i.e., an underpass or a flyover has been a conventional response and considered to be a principal approach for mitigating blockage and dealing with the expansion in peak hour traffic congestion. In this project, traffic analysis study was carried out at two points near under construction Dolmen Mall to evaluate its existing and future traffic conditions. Traffic survey included the traffic volume count, signal cycle length and intersection inventory/ geometrics study. The current intersection layout was modelled in urban traffic simulation software PTV VISSIM and the peak hour volumes exhibited. Two different grade-separated intersection alternatives were modelled and presented using VISSIM software for improving the current traffic progression at this intersection. Considering the traffic growth and projected demands in future scenarios, the proposed design minimizes the delays, queue length, environmental hazards and are considered economically feasible exhibiting acceptable level of service for urban travellers. The purpose of this project was to evaluate and improve the existing traffic situation at the selected intersection and provide efficient, safe, and fast traffic operations for the future.