The study of traffic aims to assess the effect of road rehabilitation, the introduction of new infrastructure (highways, expressways, national roads, bypasses, bridges, etc.), transport policy measures and any interventions that change the structure and capacity of traffic on the road network. The study of traffic must be carried out with a certain level of detail in order to enable the sizing of the intersections envisaged for repair, which will ensure the connection with the existing road network. First, the effect on the demand for mobility and related traffic flows, differentiated by vehicle types and their combinations, for a period of 30 years from the implementation of the project will be assessed.
1. Technical regulations
The traffic investigation complies with the provisions of specific regulations related to the issues under consideration, such as:
Standard for the arrangement of intersections at level and roundabout – AND 600 – 2015;
– Standards for the construction of rigid and flexible road structures for streets, NP 116-04;
– Technical instructions C243 for performing traffic measurements and surveys from settlements and areas of influence;
– Ordinance C242 / 1993 on the development of studies on the movement of localities and territories of influence;
– Law 413/2002 on the approval of Government Order № 79/2001 amending and supplementing Government Order № 43/1997 as regards the road regime;
– Technical norms on the establishment of the technical class of public roads, MoD 138/1998;
– Norms on environmental protection as a result of the impact on the road environment, MO 138/1998;
– Technical standards regarding the design, construction and modernization of roads, MO 138/1998;
– Decision 28/2008 on the content of the technical and economic documentation related to public investments;
– Standard for determining the traffic capacity of public roads, PD-189/2012;
– Standard for determining the calculated traffic for road design in terms of bearing capacity and traffic capacity, 584/2012;
– Standard on the organization and conduct of surveys on traffic, origin-destination. Preparation of the data from the processing survey, DD 506/2001;
– Standard on determining the technical condition of modern roads, CD 155/2001;
– Standard on the establishment of technical requirements for road quality related to consumer requirements, NE 021/2003;
– Road traffic technique. Terminology, STAS 4032 / 2-1992;
– Calculation of transport capacity for streets, STAS 10144-5-89;
– Standard for sizing of flexible and semi-rigid road systems (analytical method), PD 177-2001;
– Normative sizing of rigid road structures, NP 08/2002;
– The norm for maintenance and repair of public roads – indicative, AND 554-2004;
– Order 49/1998 approving the Technical Norms on the design and construction of streets in urban areas;
– Order 2100/2005 on the approval of the Technical Regulation for the maintenance and repair of streets, NE 033-05;
– Order 1294/2017 for approval of the Technical norms regarding the location of the municipal works, the poles for installations and the trees in the urban and rural areas.
The number of axles of 115KN, which will be required by the road network, is usually used to dimension road systems and calculate traffic.
The determination of the traffic characteristics and the sizing parameters of the road systems has been carried out, taking into account, in addition to the reference documents mentioned above, other technical prescriptions, such as:
– Instruction AND 517/1993 – for sizing of flexible and rigid road systems;
– MLPAT project type ind.T3121 / 86-96, Flexible and rigid road systems for streets;
– Instruction MLPAT 1993 – maintenance and repair of streets;
– SR 7348/2002 – Standard for physical vehicles (automobiles);
– Series STAS 10144/1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – design of streets and intersections, calculation of traffic capacity for streets and intersections;
– Catalog of reinforcement solutions for flexible and semi-rigid road structures for loads of 115 KN per axle.
To assess the utilization of road network road capacity, the traffic of physical vehicles is equivalent to standard computing vehicles.
The following are used as standard vehicles:
– the standard type of car for calculating the driving capacity;
– standard axle of 115 KN, for dimensioning of road structures and reinforcing structures.
The equivalent coefficients specified in AND 584-2012 are used to equate traffic in standard vehicles (passenger car units).
2. Traffic analysis of Giurgiu County, assessment of transport accessibility and identification of traffic problems
The general classification of vehicles, classification made by CESTRIN, was used. The classification includes 11 categories of vehicles.
Table 1. Categories of vehicles used in the survey:
The CESTRIN census is conducted for 11 vehicle categories:
1) Bicycles, motorcycles;
2) Cars;
3) Minibuses;
4) Single axle trucks;
5) Trucks and derivatives with 2 axles;
6) Trucks and derivatives with 3 or 4 axles;
7) Articulated vehicles;
8) Buses;
9) Tractors with or without trailer;
10) Trucks with 2, 3 or 4 axles with a trailer (road trains);
11) Animal towing vehicles.
Of these, traffic categories 1, 9 and 11 have little impact, as they represent reduced local traffic and mainly short distance traffic.
For the purposes of the analysis, the vehicle categories considered will be:
-
Cars (cars, vans, vans);
-
Cars (two-axle trucks and derivatives);
-
Medium-duty vehicles (trucks with 3 or 4 axles and derivatives);
-
Heavy goods vehicles – articulated vehicles (5+ axles, TIR, road trains);
-
Buses, trucks.
The data collection was carried out in order to ensure compatibility with the traffic data existing at Cestrin level with regard to the most important aspects and conditions, namely:
- Classification of vehicles according to AND 557-2015, Annex 1;
- Schedule for registration of traffic on the roads, according to AND 602-2012, Art. 22 (4);
- Occupational safety measures according to DD 506-2015, Cap. 5.
The results for the period 2014-2019 show a slight growth in the movement of cars and vans, while heavy traffic (especially trucks with 3-4 axles and passenger trains) show a significant increase of about 3-4% per year.
According to the data provided by the administration of Giurgiu District, from the analysis of the results of the census of the average daily load of the national road network with vehicles for the period 2014-2019. the following may be noted:
1) The increase of the daily daily traffic on the national road network in 2019 compared to 2014 is about 3%;
2) In the category of vehicles, type TIR, there is an increase of 12%;
3) There is a significant decrease of about 15% for vehicles with 3 or 4 axles, but an increase of about 5% for vehicles with trailers;
4) The most significant increase was registered in buses and minibuses at 8 + 1 seats – by 25%;
5) On a number of road sections the traffic exceeds 16,000 vehicles in 24 hours, ie. the traffic corresponding to technical class I, according to the Technical norm for creation of technical class on the public roads;
6) On approximately 1/3 of the length of the national road network, the share of heavy goods vehicles exceeds 20% of the total traffic;
7) The increase of the articulated car traffic by more than 15% represents a significant increase of the aggressiveness of the traffic on the road facilities and certainly negatively affects their operational suitability and strength;
8) For the district roads there is a decrease of the average daily traffic by about 5% per year;
9) In the vicinity of the large municipalities, as well as in Bucharest, there are the sectors of the national road network, where traffic values have been achieved, significantly exceeding the national average.
Based on the analysis of the results of data processing from the census points and the classification networks for 2019, compared to 2014, there is an increase in the average values of traffic on the national road network, as follows:
- In terms of the total transport network for the country, the average daily traffic has increased by about 5% for each year;
- In the network of European and main national roads (first class roads and motorways), the average daily traffic also grows by an average of 5% per year.
The analysis of the data shows the following development trends by vehicle classes:
- average car traffic has increased by 25%;
- the average truck traffic has increased by 20%;
- the average traffic of vehicles (TIR trucks) has increased by 15%;
- the average bus traffic has increased by 24%.
For the purposes of this study, map series were made, which show the load of the individual road sections by years (for the period 2014 -2019) and by type of vehicle (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses and others) (carts and tractors). In addition, graphs are made for each time showing trends in vehicle type distribution and vehicle growth over the survey period.
The graph below shows the average daily traffic intensity for all types of vehicles and averaged over all points and road sections by year:
Figure 1. Average number of vehicles passing through the third class road network of Giurgiu County (roads of the District Council), by years:
The analysis of the processed data shows that most of the third-class roads in Giurgiu County show a moderate increase in traffic, and for the period 2014-2019 it increased by 17%. Cars have the largest share in this increase, which is normal in view of the growing percentage of citizens who own their own car. Due to the secondary importance of these roads for transit freight traffic, it is normal that it does not increase at the same rate, as the average speed of passage through these roads is lower than on the main roads – A1, DN5, DN5B and DN6.
Figure 2. Average daily traffic in the third class road network DJ of Giurgiu District for 2014
Figure 3. Average daily traffic in the third-class road network DJ of Giurgiu District for 2019
Compared to the increase in traffic at the national level for the same period, the traffic on these roads has a slower growth rate, but this may change during the implementation of the planned rehabilitation and widening of some of the road sections.
In absolute values, the traffic in these road sections is comparable to the traffic on similar types and classes of roads in the whole country – there is no expressed any special trend or peak loads in parts of Giurgiu County. Compared to the main transport infrastructure roads – the A1 motorway and the other main roads between Giurgiu and Bucharest, Bucharest and Ruse, as well as the bypass routes passing through Bucharest to reach Constanta and the Black Sea, the local roads have significantly less traffic. – more than ten to twenty times weaker than the first-class roads in the area. Exceptions are several busy sections of road of short length, which play the role of a direct link between major roads. These are DJ401 in the section DJ 601 (BOLINTIN VALE) – A1 (PALANCA) and parts of DJ601. However, these road sections are not part of the current traffic study, which should answer the questions related to the increase in traffic intensity on the five roads and what measures should be taken to ensure the safe passage of people and goods.
In the road sections, the object of interest is the average traffic for the third-class network of Giurgiu District. On the basis of the data submitted by the administration of Giurgiu District, graphs were made, which are standardized on both axes – on Y is daily (for 24 hours) traffic in number of vehicles, and on X are indicated the years. For regional national comparability, all generated charts have an upper limit of Y of 3,500 vehicles per day. Another important point is the fact that the categories of vehicles are summarized from 11 to 5, as the category “Trucks” includes all trucks, no matter how many axles, and in “Buses” are collected minibuses and buses. Tractors and carts fall into the “Other” category, but their traffic is insignificant and is constantly low due to the local nature of the passage with them. However, they are part of it and must be mentioned. The total height of the poles in the graphs gives an idea of both the absolute daily load and the trends in increasing traffic over the years. In almost all sections there is an increase in total traffic between 3 and 5% per year, which is slightly below the national average.
Below are graphs of traffic in all sections subject to this study:
Figure 4. Average daily traffic on road DJ411, by type of vehicles and total:
Figure 5. Average daily traffic on road DJ412A, by type of vehicles and total:
Figure 6. Average daily traffic on road DJ413, by type of vehicles and total:
Figure 7. Average daily traffic on road DJ503, by type of vehicles and total:
Figure 8. Average daily traffic on road DJ603, by type of vehicle and total:
The graphs show that DJ412A and DJ503 are the busiest of the studied roads and they exceed the average for the roads of Giurgiu County of about 1500 vehicles per day. Road DJ413 is very lightly loaded and almost no vehicles pass through it. One of the reasons is that this road connects two other secondary roads – DN41 and DJ603, which do not have a high traffic intensity. The other reason is that this road is parallel to the DN5 road, which connects Ruse and Giurgiu with Bucharest and which takes almost all the traffic in this direction. And last but not least – this road is quite narrow and in poor condition – without separate banquets, with a small thickness of the road surface and without any accompanying infrastructure. That is why its rehabilitation will have a significant effect in providing an alternative route to DN5 in case of road accidents or other temporary difficulties in crossing.
In conclusion: the roads DJ411, DJ412A, DJ413, DJ503, DJ603 in Giurgiu County have their significance for the road infrastructure, although they do not take much traffic at the moment. However, this may change after their rehabilitation, as some of them may become important alternative routes to the main roads in the area.
3. Forecast for the development of traffic in the road sections, object of analysis and research
According to the CERTIN classification and the available data on the traffic through the third class regional road network of Giurgiu County, the regional road traffic falls into class IV – low. The figure shows a forecast based on the increase in traffic from 2014 to 2019.
Figure 9. Estimated traffic development for road DJ412A
year |
bicycles, |
tourism |
motors |
trucks |
busses |
other |
Total |
2015 |
28 |
1,303 |
9 |
255 |
37 |
29 |
1,652 |
2020 |
19 |
1,564 |
17 |
264 |
52 |
33 |
1,932 |
2025 |
28 |
1,955 |
21 |
329 |
65 |
42 |
2,418 |
2030 |
35 |
2,15 |
23 |
362 |
71 |
46 |
2,664 |
2035 |
44 |
2,67 |
31 |
450 |
89 |
44 |
3,296 |
2040 |
54 |
3,26 |
39 |
547 |
108 |
43 |
4,012 |
2045 |
66 |
3,981 |
49 |
665 |
132 |
46 |
4,889 |
Although the table is made for DJ412A, the forecast is similar for the other third class roads in Giurgiu County. For the next year the traffic is expected to increase by 3 to 5%, and in the long run – by 2030 – by about 60%. This means that in the forthcoming repair works the roads should be dimensioned so that they can serve the growing traffic and especially the freight traffic, which marks the most significant increase as a relative share by type of transport.
4. Traffic monitoring
When choosing a location for traffic monitoring equipment, the most important thing is to first answer what the purpose of using this equipment will be – what data will be collected, who will use the collected data and most of all what it will be used for. .
In the territory of Giurgiu County (and throughout Romania) the density of traffic counters is sufficient to cover over 90% of all road traffic. In addition, the available sensors that transmit data have functionality that allows the collection of precise and detailed information on the type of passing vehicle, its speed and its direction of passage. After analyzing the spatial location of the existing meters on the territory of Giurgiu County, we propose that the location of the future traffic monitoring sensors be selected according to the following criteria:
- The location of traffic monitoring devices should be located where real-time monitoring will have the greatest effect. These are places where the intensity of traffic is the highest. If somewhere it is possible due to heavy traffic to prevent the fast and safe movement of people and cars, then these locations are a priority for the deployment of monitoring equipment. In this case, such road sections are:
- DJ 601 (BOLINTIN VALE) – A1 (PALANCA)
- DN 5A (GOSTINARI) – DN 5 (CĂLUGĂRENI)
- DN 61- DJ 412 C (MART)
Figure 10. Proposal for location of traffic monitoring equipment (air conditioning stations and meters of passing vehicles) in Giurgiu County
Both sections have the importance of important connections between first-class sections and are potential alternatives in case of difficult movement on them.
2. When choosing a place of observation, it must be borne in mind that the monitoring must cover as large a volume of passing road freight traffic as possible. It has the greatest adverse impact on the life and health of people living nearby, namely noise pollution, pollution with fine dust particles and flue gases. In addition, this traffic has the most significant impact on the rapid wear of the road surface. This is valid for both proposal sections.
3. The change of the road conditions and the traffic on the territory of Giurgiu District after the rehabilitation of the road sections, provided in the project, must be taken into account. This is likely to lead to a significant part of the traffic flow through some of these sections, which will be in the best condition and will therefore be preferred by car drivers. This is even more true given that some of these roads and streets are included in the rehabilitation project not only due to poor operational condition, but are also important road transport arteries as they provide the connection of the south-east with the north-west of the city (for the town of Byala) or simply increase the transport connection (for the district of Giurgiu), or are important transit corridors. This is valid for the road sections mainly for Byala Municipality, while the third-class roads in Giurgiu would not take traffic from the main ones to a significant extent despite their rehabilitation – they would rather be better options than the alternative ones after the rehabilitation.
4. Monitoring points must be chosen to cover as much as possible transit road traffic. The basis of the project “B-TEN – Improved nodes Giurgiu-Byala for better connection to TEN-T infrastructure” is to improve mobility and create better transit connections in Europe. In order to ensure that this indicator is properly analyzed, direct monitoring of traffic will be organized at key points for the transport infrastructure, where the information necessary for decision-making will be collected. According to this indicator, all four locations mentioned above meet this requirement. In addition, their choice took into account the fact that traffic meters already set by the two travel agencies in both countries were avoided.
5. In addition to the fact that the traffic monitoring data must serve the achievement of the direct objectives of the project, they must also be useful and applicable to the municipal administration, local business, tour operators and institutions that aim to protect and preserve health. and the life of the inhabitants of the municipality. This means that after the initial location of the equipment, letters of agreement will be sent to interested parties asking for their opinion. This means that the Contracting Authority and the interested parties are to give their opinion on the selected locations and to propose others with arguments, if they deem that such a change is necessary.
5. Proposal for traffic optimization
Based on the analyzes and forecasts made, during the planned repairs of the third-class roads in Giurgiu County the road conditions will be significantly improved for the alternative routes and the police and the road administration will be able to make specific for different circumstances options for traffic optimization in road accidents. or bad weather conditions.
For the purposes of the Tory report, the following conclusions were drawn:
- Road DJ412A is an essential alternative route on the Bucharest ring road, but it is also shorter than it is if the goal is to reach the Romanian ports on the Black Sea. This is of great importance for freight transport and especially for international transport. In this case, the repair of this third-class road will allow it to be used as an alternative bypass in the event of a temporary closure of the DNCB. This road will also be congested with any closure or difficulty in moving through any of the DN4, DN5 and DN6 segments near Bucharest. Therefore, for this time special conditions should be provided for its repair – to provide locations for gas stations and TIR parking lots.
- Roads DJ411 and DJ603 are an excellent opportunity for increased stability and load capacity after the repairs to serve as an important road connection between the cities of the Black Sea and southwestern Romania. Therefore, they are expected to significantly increase traffic over the next ten years.
- Roads DJ503 and DJ603 have a different profile. These are sections with a higher percentage of local traffic generated by the proximity of both roads to tourist areas around Balta Albele. This suggests that the rehabilitation of these roads will take into account the tourist flow as the main one, while the freight traffic will not have a large share. Therefore, it is assumed that a special type of supporting infrastructure should be built around these road sections to serve tourists – toilets, gas stations and others.