PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to identify the causes and expected problems of traffic flow in connection with ground roads that are expected to become stagnant owing to the increase in underground road infrastructure, and to derive methods to solve the problem in the future. METHODS : The basic design of underground roads is similar to that of tunnels. However, there is a point where the slope is large as the entering and exiting sections move underground. The ability of a heavy vehicle to assume a mound may vary depending on the slope. Therefore, in this study, a connection path section with a long slope was constructed using VISSIM, a simulation program, and it was verified whether analysis related to the slope and heavy vehicles in an underground road can be performed in the simulation. Subsequently, an analysis was conducted by setting a scenario and an effect index. In particular, this study analyzes internal delay patterns in the event of an unexpected situation on an underground connection road by performing shock wave analysis to analyze speed reduction according to heavy vehicles and slopes. RESULTS : A correlation between the slope of the underground road and decrease in the average speed according to the increasing rate of heavy vehicles was established. It was also possible to analyze the maximum length and duration of the delay connected to the rear in the event of a delay in the underground road and the shock wave speed transmitted to the rear. The analysis showed that the rate of increase in problems owing to delays ranged from 5% to 20% for the ratio of heavy vehicles. In particular, all effect scales increased significantly at a 9% slope. CONCLUSIONS : This study analyzes the causes of land congestion (slope and heavy vehicle mixing rate), which can be a major problem in underground roads in the future. In the future, by establishing lane-specific speed control strategies and lane control strategies based on this study, it will be necessary to derive solutions such as introducing traffic safety on the underground road by minimizing the shock wave delivered to the rear by providing information on traffic communication conditions inside the underground road to individual vehicles.

PURPOSES : This study sought ways to connect urban above ground roads and underground roads to utilize urban space more efficiently in the development of underground roads, which are currently under development in order to alleviate problems caused by oversaturated above-ground roads. A simulation analysis was performed to develop an operation strategy that connects above-ground and underground roads to prevent congestion in above-ground areas such as entrances and exits from transferring to underground roads as well as to present its effectiveness. METHODS : Traffic efficiency analysis according to the operation strategy of above ground and underground roads was conducted using VISSIM, a microscopic traffic simulation software. The functions implemented in VISSIM were collected to set effectiveness analysis indicators for each underground road operation strategy. The Shinwol-Yeoui Underground Road was selected as the spatial scope of this study, and a surrounding road network was constructed. In addition, full-scale simulation analysis preparations were completed by performing network calibration based on the actual traffic attribute data of underground and surrounding surface roads within the construction scope. Accordingly, a traffic efficiency evaluation analysis was conducted based on the underground road operation strategy. CONCLUSIONS : Information on the increase in traffic volume within the Shinwol-Yeoui underpass was collected every 15 min. The analysis was divided into an analysis of the traffic situation within the underpass through demand control when the service level reached level D and an analysis of when demand control was not performed. It was found that demand control was necessary for the Shinwol-Yeoui Underpass when the internal traffic volume reached 2,500 vehicles/h. In addition, to analyze the spread of traffic and congestion owing to the weaving phenomenon caused by lane changes in the underpass, an analysis was conducted to observe the traffic improvement effect when full lane changes are possible for the Shinwol-Yeoui Underground Road, which currently has some lane-change-permitted sections. The analysis showed that both the maximum traffic volume and average travel speed showed better results when lane changes were allowed, and the communication situation at Yeoui JCT was found optimal.

PURPOSES : It is necessary to implement traffic-control strategies for underground roads. In this study, the application criteria for traffic control were developed to minimize actual traffic congestion on underground roads before it occurs. In particular, the traffic congestion judgement criteria and procedure (TJCAP) were developed. They can specifically classify the possibility of traffic congestion underground. METHODS : A microscopic traffic simulation model was used to analyze different scenarios. With the scenario simulation results, a hierarchical clustering analysis was applied to produce quantitative values from the TJCAP for each experimental network case. RESULTS : For network case (a), it was concluded that the possibility of traffic congestion on underground roads increases when the speed of the ground road connected to the main underground road and the connected ground road after the outflow of the ramp section is low. When the connected road is an interrupted facility after entering the underground roads, the red time is long, and when the section travel speed is 15 km/h, the possibility of traffic congestion underground is highest. A cluster analysis based on these results was performed using two techniques (elbow and silhouette) to verify the final classification. CONCLUSIONS : The TJCAP were designed to operate traffic flow with stricter criteria than traffic congestion management on ground roads. This reflects the difference in the driving environment between underground and above-ground roadways.