Spot Speed Study of Vehicular Traffic on Major Highways in Makurdi Town

Spot speeds of vehicular traffic along Otukpo, Gboko, Lafia and Iorchia-Ayu highways in Makurdi town where examined. Manual traffic count was carried out to ascertain traffic volume per hour per lane on each lane of the sampled road segments, and spot speeds of vehicles travelling in both directions of the highways where randomly measured using a Brushel speed gun at different spots for a period of 12 hours (6: 00 am – 6:00 pm) daily. Data analysis using statistical techniques revealed that vehicles travelled at average speed of 51 km/h, 53 km/h, 63 km/h and 50 km/h on the Otukpo, Gboko, Lafia, and Iorchia-Ayo highways respectively. Also, the range of travel pace and corresponding percentages of traffic (in brackets) on highways in Makurdi town were; 46-56 km/h (57%), (47-57km/h (50%), 55-65(32%) and 46-56(49%) for the Otukpo, Gboko, Lafia and Iorchia-Ayu roads respectively. Therefore speed limit ranging between 50-55km/h was proposed for highways in Makurdi town to guarantee safe travel. The study also revealed that highways in Makurdi town operated at a design speed below design specifications of 80–100 km/h required by the Nigeria Highway Design Manual except the Lafia road that has design speed of 80km/h. Speed calming devices, high traffic volume, geometrical layout or highway capacity and possibly pavement condition were identified as factors affecting vehicles speeds on highways in Makurdi town. Road rehabilitation for improved capacity and traffic volume to satisfy design speed, and use of speed limit warning signs to guarantee travel safety were recommended. Keywords: Highways in Makurdi town, spot speed, speed limit, design speed, travel pace