Structural Study of Smooth Crosswalks at Intersections of Arterial Roads and Community Roads where it is Difficult to Adopt Standard Structures

Abstract

In order to expand the Zone 30 Plus initiative, it is important to accumulate knowledge and expertise on physical devices that can be useful to road administrators. Humps (smooth crosswalks) at the intersections of arterial roads and residential roads are effective not only in controlling the speed of passing vehicles, but also in alerting drivers by showing them where the residential road begins and ends and the entrance to the zone. However, local conditions do not allow for the length of the sloping section, making it difficult to adopt a hump with a standard structure. Therefore, driving experiments were conducted with smooth crosswalks with different lengths of inclined sections, longitudinal slopes, and heights of flat sections from the standard structure, and the structure of non-standard smooth crosswalks was examined through objective evaluation by vehicle behavior and subjective evaluation by questionnaire surveys to the subjects. The results suggest the possibility of smooth crosswalks with steeper gradients than the standard structure, which could be expected to be as effective as the standard structure.