Urban Highway Planning Process

Transportation Engine

13-CE-136

Urban Highway An Urban Highway is defined as “Any road or street within the limits of an urban area”. An urban area is an area including and present next to a municipality or urban place with a population of 5,000 or more.

Planning of an Urban Highway Comprehensive Planning of an Urban Highway is very essential. Due to expensive land and limited space careful planning and coordination among various agencies is very critical. Execution of work is also carefully planned as the construction activities hinders the normal flow of traffic to adjacent commuters. Planning process broadly involves three phases, the planning on behalf of the Public sector responsible for urban planning using public funds. The Designer, usually a consultant that carry out the data collection, evaluation and design and last but not least the Tender Documents for execution. Finally the planning by the Contractor to minimal disturbance to adjacent road users and access to various properties is provided un-hindered. The Planning process for above the stakeholders is as follows: Employer Aspect (Public Sector) Usually, the urban streets and Arterials are under the jurisdiction of metropolitan Organization; that in Pakistan is like CDA, LDA, RDA etc. Limited budget is available for projects as the demand for various projects always exceeds than the available funding. Need Assessment The requirement of an urban road Project is carefully assessed. The incurred cost must offset the direct or indirect benefits like, vehicle operating cost, value of time etc. During project screening, it is essential for the Client (Employer) to collect basic data like Project length, Road width, Traffic count and relocation of utilities. Once the project appraisal is done and necessary funds are secured, the Terms of Reference (TOR) is drafted and made part of RFP, Request for Proposal. Usually the Basic Design parameters are well defined in Codes like AASHTO where road standards are well defined for Urban and Rural Roads of various configurations.

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Once the RFP is made the Project is advertised and appointment of Consultant is made using PPRA (Public Procurement Regulator Authority)

Consultants Aspect Consultant has to follow the steps and standards as given in the TOR. The Planning and Design Steps are summarized hereunder: Step-1 Data collection and coordination with Local Departments Once the Agreement is signed, the consultant undertake a reconnaissance visit of the area and record its observations to develop the detailed design program. Inventory of the utilities above and underground are noted so that relocation process is taken up the concerned departments like WAPDA, PTCL, SNGPL and Water Board etc. Necessary data is collected from various departments like available maps from municipal Authority, Soil data available with the client any other previous study or data of adjacent Projects for reference. Traffic Management Plans during execution are developed and shared with the Traffic police. Step-2 Environmental Study and collection of Baseline Data For any Project worth more than 50 million PKR, EIA study is mandatory and its omission is a non-bail able offence. Pakistan Environment Protection Agency PEPA has set procedures and guidelines in this regard. Baseline data for Air, water, Noise etc. is collected Step-3 Topographic Survey The detailed topographic survey is done to depict all features that exists. The whole design is based on this survey. Usually for urban area 1:500(1m=2mm) scale survey is sufficient. Step-4 Traffic and Axle Load Survey 24 Hour classified traffic counts for various week days is very essential. The traffic data is used to calculate the Capacity of the new facility and number of lanes required with future projections. Axle load survey is done to be sued for pavement design. Step-5 Soil & Material Investigation Soil and Material investigation is an important part of Planning. Soil samples are collected and necessary tests are done to determine the suitability of the insitu soil and its bearing capacity. Requirement of other construction 2

material like steel, cement, Bitumen and aggregates is also determined with its availability and haulage. Step-6 Pavement Design Based on traffic count and soil tests, Pavement design is done.

Step-7

Hydrology Study

Proper disposal of water is very essential for pavement life and safety of road users. Unlike in rural areas, where water is easily disposed, in urban areas most of the area is paved and virtually no space is available to dispose of surface runoff. Appropriate collection of water from road and its disposal to appropriate location is most critical activity. Step-8 Highway Safety Audit Highway Safety Audit HSA is done by a third party. It’s a pro-active approach to apprehend any likely danger that might result in road accident. It is done by a certified Highway Safety Auditor and his team. Step-9 Stake of Design Alignment Usually the designed alignment is put to ground by the Consultant with physical marker on ground, so that the alignment is inspected by the Client. Any adjustment required is done by the experts, when they see the design on ground. Step-10 Land Acquisition Folders and Utility Relocation In case the urban road is a new facility, land has to be procured or the existing property inside the Right of Way has to be removed. Legal compensation requires proper evaluation of land and private property. Land acquisition folder showing the details of land and property is developed and handed over to client for necessary acquisition procedure. Step-11 Submission of Final Tender Documents Once the field work is completed the Final design drawings, Bill of quantities, Engineer’s Estimate and specifications are made and submitted to client for procurement of Contractor.

Contractors Aspect

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After the Field work by the Consultant has been completed. The Client carries out this process to award the project to any specific Contractor. Each Contractor develops his own bid and after thorough analysis, the bid is submitted to the Client. On a specific day the bid is opened by the Client and the project is awarded to the lowest bidder. Mobilization on site takes place, the Contractors distributes his resources over the site adequately to complete the project on time. When the project is completed it is handed back to the client whose job it is now to carryout maintenance work when necessary.

Flow Chart for Urban Highway Planning

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