Technical information and impressions on road geometric standards, gathered during a one year study leave program in 1978/79, are reported. The situations for which information on geometric standards is given include rural development roads in south east asia, urban interchanges in hong kong, urban and rural roads in japan and USA, and rural roads in UK and sweden. Most of the study leave was spent in the USA, and the report describes the current situation and recent developments in that country with regard to geometric standards for secondary highways and local roads, giving particular attention to geometric standards adopted for work under the resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation program. Recent and proposed research into the safety implications of geometric standards and traffic engineering treatments for two - lane roads is reviewed. The report concludes with a comparison between the rural road cross- sectional design standards stipulated in a number of countries, including australia. It is noted that there are substantial differences between cross-section design practices applied in europe and those in the USA, particularly with regard to shoulder width. There was seen to be a general trend towards reduced cross-sectional standards, either by increasing the design traffic volume permitted by a standard cross-section, or by varying the width standards permitted for a specified traffic volume range. (Author/publisher) The ISBN of the microfiche is 0 86910 050 5.
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