Datalog technology has made information about roadway geometry available in digital form. The highway project development program (hpdp) is a software package that reconstructs vertical and horizontalroadway alignments from datalog files and evaluates existing and proposed alignments on the basis of sight distances, curve speeds, vehicle speeds, accident rates, and user costs. A case study was performed to apply hpdp to a project currently being designed by the wisconsin department of transportation. Most problems encountered while applying hpdp during the case study were solved, although some still remain. Extensive package testing should continue and should use more comprehensive case studies. New software capable of generating datalog information would enhance the package's flexibility in simulating possible improvements. Interactive software to produce the necessary input files, and computer-based menus for applying hpdp would also prove useful. Finally, hpdp could also be integrated within a geographic information system environment to facilitate its application. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1305, Finance, planning, programming, economic analysis, and land development1991.
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