In recent years, the Ministry of Transportation has been sensitive to the importance and benefit of improving geometric features in the interest of safety and service to the travelling public. This paper stems from planning work for the Ministry on five projects in the Region. At the outset of such projects, the rural nature of the area suggests that meeting normal geometric design standards will be straightforward. However, the long distances involved, the high unit costs prevailing (as a result of long haul distance and remoteness) and the ubiquitous rock soon make clear that maintaining standards throughout is very costly and judicious application is required to ensure even benefits from scarce resouces. benefits from scarce resouces. The paper describes how standards were applied, modified to reflect local circumstances, and adjusted to improve the most serious deficiencies and to distribute the benefit of limited rehabilitation funds. The paper contains examples of how and in what circumstances sub-standard design was addressed, and introduces a simple but effective chart that allows the designer to review a considerable quantity of data for a significant length of road on a single sheet of paper. (A)
Abstract