EVALUATION OF AVAILABLE SIGHT DISTANCE IN HIGHWAYS USING GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (VISCASIG)

INTRODUCTION

Available sight distance is defined as the section of roadway (arc A - B) between the driver and the farthest target object on the roadway that can be seen by this driver without the line of sight being obstructed by the terrain, elements by the roadsides or the road itself. This parameter is a feature for each position along the path travelled by the vehicle and is greatly dependent on parameters such as driver’s eye height target height. Available sight distance must be measured along the vehicle path rather than on the line of sight. 

Available sight distance		Alignment shortcoming

Estimating available sight distance may be an awkward task when the process is not automated. For this reason, a GIS-based tool capable to estimate such sight distances along a vehicle path has been developed for ArcGIS 10. In addition, several studies have been performed to analyze other significant factors of the geometric design of highways for traffic safety within the framework of this research, such as alignment shortcomings or geometric design consistency.

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