Operational Performance Evaluation of Post Office – Teaching Hospital Road, Ile – Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

Traffic demand is significantly on the increase in our urban centres without a commensurate increase in the rate of road infrastructure development, resulting in traffic congestion. The need to periodically evaluate the operational performance of these roads with a view to addressing this problem becomes imperative, hence this study. Speed and traffic flow data were collected for morning and evening peaks for seven days for two segments of the selected urban road in Ile-Ife, using normal procedure. Traffic flow parameters, such as, travel speed, traffic volume and capacity were computed and operational performance evaluation determined. The study showed that, motorcycles were the predominant means of transport (50 %), and followed by buses (25 %), cars (23 %) and trucks (2 %), while the average travel speed was 41 km / h. The average traffic capacity of 1306 pc/hr/ln was also obtained. The results revealed that the operating speed and capacity of the road were short of the required values of 1500 pc/hr/ln and 50 – 60 km / h, respectively, for an urban two-way two-lane highway. The road is therefore prone to congestion.

Keywords: key words, Traffic Demand, Road Infrastructure, Operational performance