Providing complementary service to high capacity highways : service areas, rest areas and weigh stations. (Dotacion de servicios complementarios a carreteras de gran capacidad : areas de servicio, areas de descanso y estaciones de pesaje.)

The need to develop as quickly as possible and within the available economic resources, high capacity highway networks is required by recent human and goods transportation demands. It should be noted that this type of road does not limit itself to one main roadway of sufficient geometric and structural characteristics, but rather needs to include all the functional elements which are just as important in most cases. Such elements include service roads located near the main road that are used to solve problems related to restrictions or road closures, total number of characteristic access roads to the highway, autoroutes and fast lanes. On the other hand, highways should have access to service centres in keeping with demand, with safe and comfortable conditions. Gas stations, hotel and restaurant facilities, spare-parts distributors and reparir shops, etc., need to be grouped together in such a way so as to also serve as a showcase of products and souvenirs of the local area, within service areas that are typically functional and aesthetic, not to mention convenient and pleasant for the user. High-capacity autoroutes should offer rest areas, enabling the driver to pull over safely : a tired driver can be a threat to road safety. Monitoring the weight of vehicles both as a whole as well as the weight per axle is also necessary to prevent premature damage to the road surface because of the harmful effects these loads have on road safety. Therefore, weigh stations are recommended with static or dynamic scales to enforce weight limits established by both national and international standards. This paper describes the actions carried out to this effect in Spain, a country where the creation of a programme of high-capacity roadways has suddenly boomed in a matter of years, and highlights the need for complementary equipment programmes of significant importance to the road network development. Results reveal that short line offer a competitive transportation service and are economically viable, assuming that short lines service can be profitably supplied in the long run. (A)