The impact of a ring road in an urban road network. The case study of Guimarães, Portugal

Abstract

The high traffic volumes are a main source of the congestion in Cities, they are a big problem on urban road transportation systems. This congestion is the main cause of the increase of level of noise and air pollution in urban centers which directly affects the quality of life of the population. Also, contributing to the big number of vehicle conflicts that affects the performance of the urban road transportation systems and the quality of life of the population. These problems are the result of the high volumes of the through traffic. Therefore, to reduce the traffic volume in urban center of Guimarães, Portugal we studied a possible conclusion of the ring road, on the slope of the Penha hill for the peak hour of the morning. To carry out our study was estimated the Origin ? Destination Matrix for peak hour from the data of traffic counts. Concluding the traffic volume in the section of the ring road already built there was a reduction. However, in the city center there were no major variations of the traffic volume.