Road planning and design manual - 2nd edition

Video transcript

Slide 1: Harmonisation of technical standards.
Road Planning and Design Manual (2nd edition) Volume 3: Guide to Road Design Hello and welcome. This presentation explains how we are changing the structure of the Transport and Main Roads’ Road Planning and Design Manual to reflect the national harmonisation of technical standards, specifically in Volume 3: Guide to Road Design.

Slide 2: Harmonisation of technical standards
The department’s Road Planning and Design Manual is published as six volumes that refer to various guides in the Austroads series. Volume 3 is the Guide to Road Design. This volume is aligned to the Austroads Guide to Road Design.

Slide 3: Harmonisation of technical standards
As Austroads members all state road authorities are participating in a national harmonisation of technical documents. As part of this initiative, Transport and Main Roads has agreed to adopt the Austroads guides as the primary technical standard, while documenting any local practices and variations that apply in Queensland.

Slide 4: Harmonisation of technical standards
As part of this harmonisation, content is being transitioned so that our Volume 3: Guide to Road Design will only consist of the Queensland variations to the Austroads Guide to Road Design. These variations are being published on the department’s web site as a series of supplements.

Slide 5: Supplements to Volume 3
Supplements address the aspects of road design that are considered unique or important to Queensland practice because they: vary from national practice due to local environmental conditions (e.g. soil types, climate) vary from national practice because of differing funding practices take account of research that supersedes the Austroads guidance require more detail than in the Austroads guides, or satisfy local legislative requirements. When applied in Queensland, the supplements therefore take precedence over the corresponding part of the Austroads Guide to Road Design.

Slide 6: Supplements to Volume 3
The supplements to Volume 3 have the same structure, headings and section numbering as the Austroads guide, so readers can easily cross-reference between documents. In the front of each supplement there is also a reference table which shows where the Austroads content is fully ‘accepted’, ‘accepted with amendments’, ‘not accepted’, or where there is ‘new’ content with no equivalent section in the Austroads guide. To eliminate duplication, ‘accepted’ Austroads content has not been reproduced in the supplement. Readers should refer directly to the Austroads guide for this content.

Slide 7: In summary
In summary, the Austroads Guide to Road Design is the primary technical standard for road planning and design in Queensland. Queensland variations are documented in the Road Planning and Design Manual, Volume 3: Guide to Road Design. This content is being transitioned into a series of supplements which must be read in conjunction with the Austroads guide.

Slide 8: Download the supplements
The supplements are published on our website: www.tmr.qld.gov.au. You can type ‘Road Planning and Design Manual’ in the search box. Or, go to the ‘Business and industry’ section, click on ‘Technical publications’. Under the ‘Road planning and design’ category, click on the link to the ‘Road Planning and Design Manual (2nd edition)’. The supplements are under ‘Volume 3: Guide to Road Design’.

Slide 9: Contact us
To get the latest updates on all Transport and Main Roads technical documents, subscribe to the RSS feed from the Technical publications home page. If you have any questions or feedback please email TMR Technical Documents at tmr.techdocs@tmr.qld.gov.au.

Video transcript

Slide 1: Overview of supplements. Road Planning and Design Manual (2nd edition) Volume 3: Guide to Road Design
Hello and welcome. Here is a brief overview of the Transport and Main Roads supplements that are part of the Road Planning and Design Manual, Volume 3: Guide to Road Design. These supplements document the Queensland variations to the Austroads Guide to Road Design.

Slide 2: What are the supplements?
The primary technical standard for road planning and design in Queensland is the Austroads Guide to Road Design. Queensland variations are documented in the Road Planning and Design Manual, Volume 3: Guide to Road Design as a series of supplements. These must be read in conjunction with the Austroads guide.

Slide 3: Guide to Road Design
The Austroads and TMR Guides to Road Design consist of 13 parts. This overview covers the Transport and Main Roads supplements to Parts 4, 4A, 4B and 4C; Part 6, Part 6A and Part 7. Refer to the Road Planning and Design Manual, Volume 3 for the content of the remaining Parts.

Slide 4: Supplements for Parts 4, 4A, 4B and 4C
First, let’s look at the supplements for parts 4, 4A, 4B and 4C which cover intersections, crossings, roundabouts and interchanges.

Slide 5: Supplements for Parts 4, 4A, 4B and 4C
These supplements include:

• New warrants for the turn treatments at unsignalised intersections. These warrants allow for options which are less conservative on existing roads.
• There is new guidance for the length of acceleration lanes turning onto major roads, and for merge ramps at interchanges.
• An additional offset rural channelised left turn treatment is provided. Implemented at known crash locations, this treatment requires additional pavement area but significantly improves sight lines for drivers turning out of the side road.
• Additional design guidance is included for intersections and roundabouts.
• There are alternative layouts on curved ramps to reduce the required width of structures and at system interchanges to improve driver comprehension, and
• Guidance is given for grade separated intersections to provide a more cost effective treatment when a full treatment is not required.

Slide 6: Supplement for Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers
The supplement for Part 6: Roadside Design, Safety and Barriers contains minimal variations to Austroads practice. In summary:

• The clear zone concepts and table of clear zone ranges from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AAHSTO) Roadside Design Guides have been included.
• A corrected Figure 4.4(b) from the Austroads Guide to Road Design - Part 6 and the Median Barrier Warrants Assessment have been redrawn.
• A ‘generalised hazard assessment process’ is included to address the slightly different process required for different roadside hazards.
• The possibility to construct concrete barriers of heights lower than 1100mm has been introduced.
• There are new design guidelines for point of need calculations, and new sections on temporary road safety barriers and road safety barrier retrofit, and
• We have updated references and links to other documents containing road safety barrier information.

Slide 7: Supplement for Part 6A: Pedestrian and Cyclist Paths
In the supplement for Part 6A: Pedestrian and Cyclist Paths:

• Various definitions have been updated.
• A new section on pedestrian/cyclist subways has been added.
• Additional commentaries on shared zones and tactile indicators have been added.
• Guidelines from technical notes related to designing bicycle paths have been incorporated. These cover:
  • Procedures for assessing the capacity of existing paths and determining the appropriate path type and width.
  • Guidance on path speed limiting devices; separating cyclists from pedestrians; the use of path terminal treatments; heights and location of restrictor bars and bollards; and staggered fence treatment, and
  • A summary and guidance for path widths and shared path capacity for different widths.

Slide 8: Supplement for Part 7: Geotechnical Investigation and Design
The Part 7: Geotechnical Investigation and Design supplement notes that all content in the Austroads Guide to Road Design – Part 7 is accepted, with minor referencing amendments.

Slide 9: Download the supplements
The supplements are published on our website: www.tmr.qld.gov.au. You can type ‘road planning and design manual’ in the search box. Or, go to the ‘Business and industry’ section, and click on ‘Technical publications’. Under the ‘Road planning and design’ category, click the link to the ‘Road Planning and Design Manual (2nd edition)’. The supplements are in ‘Volume 3: Guide to Road Design’.

Slide 10: Contact us
For the latest updates on all Transport and Main Roads technical documents, subscribe to the RSS feed from the Technical publications home page. If you have any questions or feedback please email TMR Technical Documents (tmr.techdocs@tmr.qld.gov.au).