The latest technologies will allow more efficient organization of transport flows in Lithuania

2012-05-09

Kelprojektas, the leading Lithuanian company of road, bridge and railway engineering, has submitted the first designs prepared using the innovative traffic simulation software PTV VISSIM. One of the most advanced software solutions in the world is capable of assessing traffic problems and making high precision long-term forecasts of traffic flow development. According to the Company, Lithuanian citizens will directly benefit from the new generation engineering when the prepared designs are implemented and problematic intersection become faster and safer to negotiate.

One of the first designs made by Kelprojektas with the application of the software was the turbo roundabout in Kretinga, which is supposed to replace the current traffic-light controlled two-lane intersection of Vilniaus St and Žemaitės Ave in five years. This will not only help solve the persisting problem of traffic jams, but will also significantly enhance traffic safety, especially for the flow of pedestrians and motor vehicles to the left, which often causes accidents with the most dire consequences.

“The advanced software solution, which was installed a year ago and is already bearing fruit, is a successful investment in the Company’s effectiveness as well as an important contribution to the traffic quality on the national scale. It is the most advanced traffic simulation software used in Lithuania. It allows engineers to make even more precise assessments of the traffic situation and anticipate its development for decades ahead”, said Algimantas Medžiaušis, the CEO of UAB Kelprojektas.

The new software solution employed by Kelprojektas is designed for microscopic traffic flow simulation for all sorts of vehicles including cars, trucks, public transport (buses, trolleybuses, trains) and bicycles. With PTV VISSIM, engineers can find the golden mean between the high capacity and traffic safety of intersections, as it is capable of making accurate assessments of a number of important traffic factors that were impossible to measure before, such as the influence of pedestrians and cyclists on the flow of motor vehicles.

“With regard to the fast growth of the number of cyclists in Lithuania, the new possibilities are even more relevant.The software enables high precision analysis, understanding and proper assessment of any given traffic situation including the extremely problematic ones. With such traffic forecasting possibilities at hand, we can design traffic infrastructure objects that more effective, more permanent, safer and more environmentally friendly”, said Saulius Vingrys, traffic simulation engineer at Kelprojektas.

Kelprojektas has already used the PTV VISSIM traffic simulation software on a dozen of transport infrastructure objects. Beside the Kretinga turbo roundabout, the design of Karmėlava Bypass with a single-lane roundabout has been completed and is expected to be implemented within a year. Other objects include Biruliškiai and Murava intersection on the 94.00–107.00 km stretch of the A1 Vilnius–Kaunas–Klaipėda highway; a four-way intersection in Kužiai settlement location on the 5.49–16.93 km stretch of the A11 Šiauliai–Palanga trunk road; and other.