Evaluation of Traffic Congestion Mitigation at Atnarong Interchange using Microscopic Simulation Model

Abstract

The Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT) has been operating Chalerm Mahanakorn Expressway and Chalongrat Expressway. While the first one supports travelers from different regions into the central business district, the other has a connecting road to Chalerm Mahanakorn at Atnarong interchange. The arrivals from both expressways are heading to Bangkok Port (Taruea). The traffic stream will merge at Atnarong interchange, with approximately 8,700 vehicle per hour during morning rush hour, and the road climbs up from ground level to elevated level which is the bottleneck, causing about a 3.15 km. long queue stranded on Chalerm Mahanakorn Expressway. Therefore, the microscopic simulation model of AIMSUN had been developed to analyze traffic evaluation and efficiency of various scenarios to mitigate traffic congestion. The results indicated that the restriping case is the most effective case for traffic congestion mitigation in regard to maximum queue length, average speed, average travel time and traffic flow at Atnarong interchange.