PLANNING OF STREET AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT NETWORKS: PRELIMINARY GEOMETRIC STUDIES

PRELIMINARY STREET NETWORK AND TRANSPORT PLANNING STUDIES FOR URBAN AREAS FACILITATE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF LONG-TERM TRANSPORT PLANS. THE AIM OF THE PRELIMINARY GEOMETRIC STUDIES IS TO ENABLE THE NECESSARY RIGHT OF WAY TO BE RESERVED AND TO LEAD TO A HARMONIOUS INTEGRATION OF TRANSPORT NETWORKS IN THE ENVIRONMENT. THE STUDIES COMPRISE TWO MAIN STAGES: (1) GENERAL STUDY OF THE NETWORK DEFINING THE MAIN INFRASTRUCTURE CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON TRAFFIC SURVEYS AND BRIEF INVESTIGATIONS INTO POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS, AND (2) LOCALISED STUDY: A LARGE NUMBER OF ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS ARE EXAMINED BY MEANS OF FUNCTIONAL, TECHNICAL, FINANCIAL AND SITE-INTEGRATION ABILITY CRITERIA. THE ALTERNATIVE SELECTED IS THEN ANALYSED IN DETAIL; THIS ANALYSIS TAKES THE FORM OF A PRELIMINARY GEOMETRIC PROJECT. ATTENTION IS DRAWN TO THE NEED FOR A PERMANENT COOPERATION BETWEEN TECHNICAL AND POLITICAL TECHNICIANS THROUGHOUT THE CONDUCT OF THE STUDY. THREE EXAMPLES ARE GIVEN OF THE TWO MAIN PHASES DESCRIBED ABOVE.