This country report discusses some of the developments in the practice and process of geometric road design in Australia over the last 4 years. The paper draws primarily on the activities of the Austroads Road Design Reference Group (RDRG), a peak industry body formed under the auspices of Austroads, the national association of state road authorities in Australia and New Zealand. Since its formation in August, 2000 the RDRG has overseen a number of significant updates to Austroads design guides, and has sponsored research projects investigating some of the fundamental design criteria. The following projects, and some of the significant issues that arose during them, are discussed in this paper: (1) Review of the Austroads Geometric Design Guides for Urban and Rural Roads - including consideration of appropriate values for driver eye height, reaction times, and stopping distances, and refinement of the operating speed model; (2) Designing for Trucks - a research project which sought to answer the question: When is it appropriate to design for trucks?; (3) Shoulder Widths on Dual Carriageway Rural Roads - investigating the relationship between sealed shoulder width and crashes; and (4) Environmental Considerations in Planning and Design - a comprehensive review of literature and guidelines covering environmental issues to be considered in Australia, including water sensitive road design.
Samenvatting