IS THE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR LANE HIGHWAYS STILL A VIABLE OPTION FOR AN URBANIZED AREA?

摘要

Is the design and construction of four (4) lane highways still a viable option for thoseliving in an urbanized environment; only for the State Departments of Transportation toreturn years later to construct additional lanes (e.g., the Baltimore-Washington Parkway)and create even more extensive commuter/travel delays? With vehicles only gettinglarger and with more and more families moving farther away from the Central BusinessDistrict (CBD), it may be time to discontinue the design and construction of the four lanehighway in lieu of the six/eight lane highway(s) as the standard. This paper does not seethe continued use of four lane highways as a viable option for an urbanized environmentand hypothesizes that state Departments of Transportation use the design andconstruction of six and eight lane highways as the recommended standard. Several casestudies are presented from Maryland and Virginia in support of the hypothesis.