Abstract

Increased traffic volume introduces congestion on road affecting efficiency of road. Efficiency assessment could be defined as the comparison between current status of roads in terms of road capacity, traffic volume, geometric design, etc. and standard of roads prescribed for well-functioning of roads. A new Bridge on Rupsha River causes increased traffic on the study road. The study road is a link road from the city to the RupshaBridge. Vehicles which used Ferry terminal previously and the trips which are made to visit Rupsha Bridge are clogging on the study road. The burden of traffics in the urban road results congestion on it and which makes necessity of studying whether the road is efficient or not to serve all its traffic flow. This study presents a methodological approach toward measuring efficiency of an urban road and also depicts when and how such measure might be required for an urban setting. This study conducts traffic volume, geometric design status and problem analysis to identify the problems making traffic congestion. Attributes of the road (traffic volume, road capacity, width and other geometric characteristics) prove the road as an inefficient one in terms of its design standards. The authors also discovered what vehicle types are responsible for such inefficiency. They suggested with appropriate reasoning that motorized vehicles required to be eliminated from the road to have efficiency serving the residential trips and additional visitor trips on the road. The authors concluded by designing an alternative road for the eliminated motorized vehicles.

Key words: Road efficiency, urban road, Rupsha Bridge, Khulna City.