Traffic management on sections of public roads of national importance passing through small settlements

Abstract

The article examines the features of traffic management on sections of public roads of national importance passing through small settlements with a population of up to 50,000 inhabitants. The main factors affecting road safety are analyzed, including speed limits, the intensity of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, the condition of road infrastructure, and the effectiveness of technical traffic management devices. A comprehensive set of measures aimed at reducing road accidents, improving pedestrian safety, and ensuring comfortable mobility for all road users is proposed. Public roads of national importance are the main logistics arteries that ensure economic stability and connectivity between settlements. However, when such a high-speed route passes through a small settlement — a village or a small town — a zone of conflicting interests is immediately created. On the one hand, roads of national importance require high traffic capacity for transit heavy vehicles and passenger buses. On the other hand, local residents need basic safety during their daily trips to school, work, or shops. Global practice and the Vision Zero concept demonstrate that appeals to attentiveness are ineffective without proper traffic management (hereinafter — TM). Public roads of national importance passing through small settlements simultaneously perform the functions of transit transport corridors and local streets. The combination of transit traffic with local movement of pedestrians, cyclists, and agricultural machinery creates an increased level of road safety risk. A significant proportion of road traffic accidents in such settlements is associated with speeding, insufficient visibility, dense development, the absence of safe pedestrian crossings, and inadequate provision of roads with technical traffic management devices. Under current conditions, traffic management should be based on the principles of safety, functionality, and sustainable development of the transport system. Traffic management in settlements is aimed at ensuring the maximum possible safety of all road users and reducing the level of injuries and fatalities to zero. In modern practice, TM should focus not only on ensuring safe traffic conditions for drivers but also on improving safety and creating appropriate conditions for vulnerable (unprotected) road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, and persons with disabilities. The study employed statistical data processing methods to analyze road accident rates on public roads of national importance. Current regulatory documents concerning traffic calming measures, traffic signal installations, road signs, and road markings were analyzed. A comprehensive approach to addressing road safety problems in settlements can significantly reduce the accident rate, decrease the number of people killed and injured in road traffic accidents, and create comfortable and safe conditions for all road users. The main result of proper traffic management in settlements is a situation in which the road itself prevents drivers from exceeding the speed limit while maintaining comfortable traffic conditions, and vulnerable road users cross and travel along the road only at specially equipped locations. Road markings, road signs, pedestrian crossings, pedestrian refuge islands, segregated cycle paths, pedestrian paths, sidewalks, effective lighting, and speed enforcement cameras enable partial or complete separation of pedestrian and bicycle traffic from motor vehicle traffic, as well as control over compliance with the Traffic Rules. Drivers on public roads are required to slow down, give way to pedestrians, and comply with the speed limit. At the same time, pedestrians, cyclists, children, and older people gain a protected space where they can move safely and without fear.