Estudo de capacidade para readequação de uma rótula urbana semaforizada no bairro seminário, cidade de Curitiba/PR

Abstract

Similarly to many other capitals of Brazilian States, Curitiba/PR has been registering intense traffic jams in its road network. For exemplification purposes, Curitiba drivers lost more than 100 hours in traffic and in the year of 2018. This suggests the need for renovation of existing in-level intersections, thus providing better levels of service to the users. In this manner, the major aim of the present study is to perform a capacity analysis of a roundabout with stoplights and known as “Jerusalem Fountain”. Analytical calculations were made according to Brazilian manuals, and results from traffic simulations in the AIMSUN software were also obtained. A previous traffic counting made by the Research and Urban Planning Institute of Curitiba (IPPUC, in Portuguese) was used as a starting point for counting and classifying vehicles in the current year, as well as labeling the maneuvers in the intersection. Two scenarios were considered in this study: (a) a modern-type roundabout without stoplights; and (b) roundabout with a tunnel for the passage of the straight traffic flows. The scenario (a) is not technically feasible because the roundabout showed the worst level of service (equal to “F”) according to the analytical calculations; moreover, the data from AIMSUN indicated long traffic queues, low average vehicle speeds and waiting times longer than 1,000 s. With respect to the scenario (b), the levels of service were equal to “A” in all the approaches of the roundabout and the data from AIMSUN showed waiting times lower than 1.0 s and traffic queues with no more than two vehicles. Despite the promising findings, the construction of a tunnel is difficult due to the lack of space, unfavorable topographic characteristics, the presence of surrounding water bodies and the absence of a cost-benefit analysis. As a matter of example, future investigations may include the creation of alternative routes for drivers that currently pass through the intersection every day.