The Environmental Impact Reduction of Highway Traffic Congestion using Sustainable Tool

Abstract

Abstract The global environment is mainly affected by the increase in traffic volumes at intersections in terms of air pollution. Serious solutions are needed to avoid air pollution specially in the crowded in congested intersections. Recently, the concept of sustainability and sustainable tools has been found to minimize congestion and excess emissions of the gaseous pollutants problem to some extent. The current study focused on a critical intersection in Baghdad city which is Shaab-Selekh intersection. Shaab-Selekh intersection can be classified as the most congested intersection for its high traffic density, especially in the morning and afternoon peak hours. This study evaluates the level of service, estimating the environmental impact (air pollution) due to traffic congestion, and propose set of sustainable tools to reduce air pollution associated with reduced congestion traffic. In order to reach these objectives, many factors were considered such as traffic volumes and counting time periods (morning and afternoon peak hour) in December 2018 by (video recording technique and manual counting). In addition, SIDRA software version 5.1 was used to evaluate the level of service for the intersection and indicated that it equal to LOS F, and to estimate air pollutants (CO2, HC, CO, NO2). This study will also compare air pollutants for the study area with international standards and the congestion cause negative impacts on the environment.