Study on the undergrounding and utility pole removal projects in coastal sightseeing region using tsunami evacuation simulation

Abstract

There has been considerable debate about the necessity of removing utility poles, yet there are significant challenges in determining the most appropriate priorities. Furthermore, while the removal of utility poles has been discussed from the perspectives of scenery, traffic safety, and disaster prevention, there has been limited research from the perspective of disaster prevention. With regard transportation roads from the perspective of disaster prevention, discussion has also been limited to remove utility poles from emergency transportation roads from the perspective of removing obstacles to disaster recovery.

This study, focused on the urban area of Ishigaki city, which is at risk of tsunami disasters. The priority of removing utility poles from the perspective of their importance as evacuation routes was examined based on an analysis of the evacuation behavior of residents and tourists. Consequently, the number of individuals evacuating a given road can be utilizes to identify which roads should be prioritized for construction without utility poles.