Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
17.2.4.3 Effects
The congestion effects of major new road construction are multifaceted. New
freeways and arterial roads open new areas for land development, improve regional
accessibility, and relieve traf
c loads from local streets. But they also can increase
travel miles (VMT) and create new points of congestion around areas where they
intersect. New commercial/retail settlements typically locate near freeway inter-
changes and can create congested conditions especially where access management
and interchange designs are inadequate.
A related concern of freeway construction is the transfer of economic activities
from built-up center cities to suburban interchanges. Even a simple bypass around a
small community can produce a shift in accessibility between the small community
and the new area opened by the bypass. For example, this is apparent from
Fig.
17.11
. As the new bypass reduces congestion in the community center
“
O
”
by
diverting though traf
c away from the center, new areas served by the bypass (A, B,
C) will become more attractive to developers as their accessibility increases relative
Fig. 17.11
Illustrating the effect of perimeter road on area accessibility.
Source
Reference [
16
]
