Road traffic noise monitoring program & mitigation measures at the Athens ring motorway

Athens urban area is characterized from high environmental road traffic noise levels due to the important road movements towards the city center & suburban areas (1). The "ATTIKI ODOS" Athens ring motorway network aims in the facilitation of the daily vehicles movements ensuring also the best protection of the acoustic & atmospheric environment. Therefore the main environmental objective of the Road Traffic Noise Monitoring System (RTNMS) of Attiki Odos S.A., is to ensure a continuous monitoring in a selection of representative locations - in a short and long term - of all environmental acoustic parameters of Road Traffic that are requested for the proper design, aiming in the amendment of unfavourable environmental effects from noise and the continuous checking of the effectiveness of the noise protection measures that are proposed to be applied and more specifically the application of the noise barriers. The RTNMS has ensured since 2002 the recording- on a 24hours/7days/12 months continuous monitoring level - and the evaluation of the relevant data for the following indices of traffic noise: a) L10(18h) based upon the standing legislation (17252), b) L?eq (08.00-20.00) based upon the standing legislation (17252) & L?eq(24h) & c) Lday (07.00-19.00), Levening (19.00-23.00), Lnight (23.00-07.00) & Lden based upon the new European directive for Noise (2002/49/EC). A total of 8 permanent noise monitoring stations and a a yearly mobile noise monitoring program introducing some 200 locations along the motorway is in continuous operation since 2002, introducing also updated information regarding add. mitigation measures due road traffic flows increase and heavy urbanisation along the motorway. Some more than 70.000 sqm of semi transparent noise barriers of effective acoustic height from 3 up to 4,5m were already implemented ensuring the protection of the urban acoustic environment

Bicyclists' braking profile on typical urban road pavements

This study examines the bicyclists' braking profile on four typical pavement types in the urban road environment: asphalt, concrete plate, concrete bricks and thermoplastic material. The experiment took place in the city of Volos, Greece, in a pedestrian area provided with a bikeway across the port, under good weather conditions. Five volunteer bicyclists, men and women of different physical weight took part in the experiment, riding a brand new city bike. The experiment was conducted with the use of state of the art equipment: VBOX (Racelogic, UK) that could trace the bicyclists' movement and collect data of position, speed etc using GPS signal. Each participant accelerated the bike on 15km/hr or 20km/hr, kept the speed steady riding the bike in straight line and then applied the brakes with maximum force until the bike stops. This test was revised for each pavement type. After the data analysis, we estimated the braking time and distance for each pavement type for the two speed levels according to the bicyclists' weight. Finally, we concluded that the shortest braking distance was noticed on the pavement made from asphalt. Furthermore, we concluded that a 5km/hr rise of bicyclists' speed resulted to a much longer braking distance

The interaction between road network and natural landscape type

The construction of new road infrastructure can impact on landform in a number of ways. The type of natural landscape and the terrain or topographical features of the land determines where roads can go and therefore strongly affect road-network structure and pattern. Several ecological impacts of road system occur at much greater levels than the proportion or road surface in the landscape. The main concept in road design is the understanding and the integration of the road network in a broader landscape in order to implement the basic rules of sustainable development. Decisions on design will require environmental constraints to be balanced against cost, but ultimately will be dependent upon engineering feasibility and safety considerations. In the present paper, the interaction and the influence of the properties of different type of landscape such as topography and land use to the road network are examined. © 2007 WIT Press

Grading methodology of the pedestrian urban road environment

The improvement of pedestrian safety, mobility and convenience is an important step for the promotion of sustainable mobility in urban areas. This study presents the grading process and walkability score of the pedestrian urban environment of six selected roads in the city of Volos, Greece. The roads were characterized as main, collector or local urban arterials, located inside or close to the center of the city. Four suitably trained auditors walked across the streets and using a questionnaire graded independently the pedestrian urban road environment features in each road segment and crosswalk. The auditors' team included three undergraduate students as the team members and a PhD candidate as the team leader. The questionnaire included 9 questions for the road segments and 6 questions for the crosswalks. The rating scale varied between 1 (awful) and 5 (very good) score. We calculated the average score of each question for the road segments and crosswalks across each street. Furthermore, we calculated the walkability score for each road segment and crosswalk and as an average the total walkability score of each street. The innovation of our study was that we graded separately the walkability features of each road segment and crosswalk, concluding to a total walkability score of a street as a synthesis of the auditors' grades

Evaluation of the pedestrian infrastructure using walkability indicators

The promotion of pedestrian safety, mobility and convenience is an important step to raise sustainable mobility in urban areas. This study presents the development and implementation of indicators that evaluate pedestrian infrastructure in urban streets. The study area was six selected roads in the city of Volos, Greece. The roads were characterized as main, collector or local urban arterials, located inside or close to the center of the city. Four suitably trained authors walked across the streets, took pictures and charted the pedestrian infrastructure for each side of the street and each road segment and crosswalk. The auditors' team included three undergraduate students as the team members and a PhD candidate as the team leader. After this step, the auditors created a drawing of the pedestrian infrastructure and counted indicators for road segments, street corners and crosswalks. The road segment indicators were split into two categories: the infrastructure ones and the street furniture ones. The result of the study was to compare the pedestrian infrastructure of the streets in terms of walkability and evaluate the convenience of pedestrians to walk on their desire route across the streets. The outcome of this study was that these indicators could be used in a pedestrian walkability study in order to notice the main problems of pedestrian infrastructure and propose focused remedial actions

Occupational noise vibration & air pollutants fluctuation inside the toll booths in the athens ring motorway network: "Attiki Odos"

Attikes Diadromes S.A (a company ensuring the "Maintenance - Operation and Exploitation of the motorway Elefsina - Stavros - Spata Airport & West Peripheral Ymittos Avenue "), in close cooperation with the University of Thessaly-Faculty of Civil Engineering (Transportation sector) has executed during 2006 [1] an extended specialised research program, in, both, selected toll booths of "Attiki Odos" network (Athens Ring Road) & also selected machinery equipment, aiming at the detection of both occupational & vibration noise levels possible as long as harmful chemical factors generated from the road circulation in the relevant selected toll booths of Attiki Odos, aiming at the evaluation of the relevant impact at the employees of both toll facilities & machinery equipment use are exposed during working periods

Pedestrian road safety in relation to urban road type and traffic flow

The paper presents an analysis of the relationship between pedestrian road safety, urban road type and motorists' traffic flow. A suitable index for the evaluation of the walkability level of an urban street is the pedestrian traffic flow and the walking behavior. The researchers examined six urban streets of various types in the city of Volos (a medium-sized Greek city, 130,000 inhabitants). They collected data of the pedestrian traffic flow and their legal or illegal walking behavior for each road segment of the examined streets. Furthermore, they collected data of motorists' traffic flow in the same road segments of the streets in the study area. The combination of those data with the administrative ranking of each road can indicate a walkability level of an examined street or a specific route and reveal pedestrians' mobility and safety issues. This study supports that walking behavior differs for various road types. Pedestrians with the highest rate of legal behavior were presented in main arterials (91.8%) and the lowest one in local streets (53.7%). Low level of motorized traffic flow in combination with maintenance and mobility problems in pedestrian infrastructure incites pedestrians to walk in the street thus underestimating their safety issues. Promotion of pedestrian mobility emphasizing in safety issues can change the modal split in favor of vulnerable road users, increase the sustainability index of an urban area and improve the citizens' quality of life. © 2017 The Authors

Investigation of speed and trajectory of motorcycle riders at curved road sections of two-lane rural roads under diverse lighting conditions

Introduction: Vehicular accidents at horizontal curves are over-represented compared to accidents that occur at tangent sections. Investigations have been conducted aimed at identifying the major causes that result in higher accident risk, both in terms of severity and rate, at curved road sections. Excessive or abrupt changes in speeding and improper vertical position are cited as major factors of lane departure, whereas other factors (either human or environmental) have also been documented. However, most research involves 4-wheel vehicles rather than other modes of transport that behave differently. More specifically, while motorcyclist fatalities occur more frequently than passenger vehicles, when accounting for vehicle distance traveled only a limited number of research studies address their behavior at curved road sections. Method: This paper presents the findings of field operational tests carried out by motorcyclists along two-lane rural roads with a wide range of horizontal curves using an instrumented motorcycle. Key objectives of the research included the conditions under which the motorcyclists differentiate their trajectory in regards to the direction of the horizontal curves, the correlation between the trajectory and the geometry of the road, and the impact of the lighting conditions on riders’ behavior. Results: The research showed that motorcyclists tend to ride closer to the centerline of the road, neglect the hazards associated with dim lighting conditions, and maintain constant speed in the left hand and the right-hand horizontal curves. © 202