Microscopic Simulation on the Design and Operational Performance of Diverging Diamond Interchange

A proper traffic impact study needs to be conducted in order to estimate the extra traffic volume generated from new development to mitigate the negative impact on existing roads. Generally, results from traffic impact studies indicated that most of the existing intersections in urban areas have already exceeded the capacity. The problem becomes even more complicated when the peak hour flow rates are reaching capacity at the signalized intersections of a diamond interchange. Therefore, this study attempts to search for alternative interchange design to address the problem by means of simulation. This paper elaborates the microscopic simulation models developed using the VISSIM software to investigate the design and operational performance of a diverging diamond interchange for different traffic scenarios and signal plans.