Patterns of lane utilization by heavy trucks are important for both traffic management and pavement design. This paper describes truck lane distribution measurements at two sites on two major four-lane rural highways in Alberta. The study was a part of an investigation of the impact on pavement structure of recently increased axle weight limits and different axle configurations. The first site involved a weigh-in-motion (WIM) site on Highway 2 south of Edmonton and the second location was an important at-grade intersection of Highway 16X and a secondary road west of Edmonton. The results from the WIM site indicated that the proportion of trucks in the right lane did not vary much with time of year or between years, year or between years, but was found to be greater than assumed by the Portland Cement Association pavement design guidelines. The second site was representative of intersections where heavy trucks must enter a major highway from the left. The paper describes the development of a stable lane flow distribution as a function of both distance from the intersection and main road flows. (A)
Abstract