Design & Evaluation of a Dynamic Dilemma Zone System for a High Speed Rural Intersection

Final report.PDFTech ReportMD-12- SP708B4JSP708B4JDilemma zoneIntersection elementsHighway traffic control systemsSignalizationTraffic signal control systemsTraffic signal controllersTraffic signal hardwareMarylandMaryland. State Highway AdministrationChang, Gang-LenFranz, MarkLu, YangUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.). Dept. of Civil and Environmental EngineeringMaryland. State Highway Administration. Office of Policy & ResearchNTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-Traffic Control DevicesNTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-Traffic FlowNTL-SAFETY AND SECURITY-Highway SafetyUS Transportation CollectionThe goal of this research was to develop a system that utilizes the dynamic detection technology andto evaluate the performance of this system. The first step of this study was to select an intersectionexperiencing a high frequency of crashes that could be remedied by a dilemma-zone protection system.Next, a dynamic dilemma-zone protection system was designed using three microwave sensors to trackvehicles approaching the intersection on the major approach. The data collected by these sensors werethen used in real-time to control the signal logic, providing green extensions and all-red extensions whenpre-defined parameters of detected vehicles are met. To evaluate the performance of the system designand the appropriateness of the associated parameters, a field test was conducted. The data analysisincluded the identification of false called all-red extensions (related to efficiency) and missed all-redextensions (related to safety) to assess the overall performance of the newly installed dynamic dilemmazone protection system