Effects of Snowfall Intensity on Freeway Travel Speed (Focused on Seohaean Freeway)

PURPOSES : Adverse weather conditions such as heavy rain, heavy snowfall, and thick fog and so on have highly affect on the change in traffic conditions on the road. In particular, heavy snowfall causes capacity reduction as well as crash occurrence. This study investigated the effects of snowfall on speed on a freeway. METHODS: Vehicle detection systems data were matched with corresponding weather station data by regression analysis. RESULTS: The results show that the travel speed is reduced by 6.7% under little snowfall and by 12.8% under heavy snowfall. Regarding the speed variation, 8.7% and 114.7% increases are observed under little snowfall and heavy snowfall, respectively. It is also found that 1 cm increase in snowfall leads to 0.4% decrease in travel speed. In addition, the travel speed increases by 0.4% when the temperature increases by 1���. CONCLUSIONS: It is expected that the outcome of this study will be useful in establishing more effective strategies for winter operations and road maintenance in practice