Horizontal Displacement

Installing a curve or some other measure that requires drivers to stray from a straight roadway section lowers their speed in the process.

Treatment Options

Aerial view of bulb-outs
Aerial view of bulb-outs (City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina 2003).

Drivers go much faster on a straight section of roadway because the conditions are conducive to that speed, but installing a curve or some other measure requiring drivers to stray from that straight roadway section lowers their speed in the process.

 

Physical displacement treatments involve moving drivers from the straight path, which requires them to slow down or evaluate their speed in the process.

Various treatments involving horizontal physical displacement within rural communities and settings can include these treatments:

References

Aerial view of a chicane
Aerial view of a chicane (Andrle et al. 2001).

Andrle, Stephen J., Keith K. Knapp, Tom McDonald, and Duane E. Smith. Iowa Traffic Control Devices and Pavement Markings: A Manual for Cities and Counties. Center for Transportation Research and Education, Iowa State University, 2001.

 

City of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “Traffic Calming Policy. Section IV.” Traffic Calming Measures, 2003.

FHWA. Roundabouts: A Safer Choice. Federal Highway Administration, n.d.

Aerial (left) and side (right) views of transverse rumble strips
Aerial (left) and side (right) views of transverse rumble strips (after MnDOT 1999).

MnDOT. Traffic Engineering Manual. Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul, MN,1999.

 

 

 

 

 

Aerial view of a roundabout
Aerial view of a roundabout (FHWA n.d.).
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