3.0 Signing, Markings and Channelization

3.4.3 Recommended Guidelines

Speed Control/Mitigation Design Issues and Guideline Development

• In addition to providing time savings and better safety performance, toll roads must distinguish themselves from freeways by providing customer service. The use of raised pavement materials to reduce speed is uncomfortable to the vehicle passengers and may cause damage to the vehicle. For this reason, the use of in-pavement materials to reduce speed when approaching a conventional plaza lane should be avoided and alternatives should be investigated for plazas that currently use this method of speed control.
• The acceleration performance of trucks is clearly less than passenger cars, with some rare exceptions. Given manual lanes are normally located on the right side of the conventional plaza, the use of signs to require trucks and possibly buses and RVs to use the right lanes and stay to the right when departing the plaza provides a strategy with an expected high benefit/cost ratio. The effectiveness of this strategy is dependent on the cooperation of the truck or bus drivers, who may believe the value of their time allows them to use any lane or path when departing the plaza. However, this attitude is expected to be in the minority.

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