Abstract:
Changes in land use zoning and major developments can generate significant traffic along
major arterials, resulting in congestion and worsening operational conditions if no
intervention is undertaken. Road authorities mitigate this through the upgrade of roads
such as dualling single carriageway arterials. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the
impact of dualling a single carriageway arterial. Congestion relief and changes in
operational conditions are evaluated using Floating Car Data (FCD). The upgrade of the
R310 from a two-way, two-lane road to a dual carriageway road with two lanes per
direction between the N2 interchange and Annandale Road in Stellenbosch is used as a
case study to evaluate travel time changes and average speed along the route. The use of
FCD provides a greater understanding of the differential in travel times and average
speeds of the two scenarios (before and after road upgrading). The analysis demonstrates
improved travel times in peak periods. The impact of the implementation of an access
management strategy and signalisation illustrates a significant impact on average speed at
localised positions. This study has proven that the change in traffic characteristics when
dualling a single carriageway can be better understood using FCD and can assist road
authorities in decision making.