Waikato District Council engaged BBO to undertake a complex traffic assessment process involving a traffic review of the Hampton Downs Motorsport Park resource consent application. This project demonstrated BBO’s ability to assess highly complex traffic scenarios using a German developed micro-simulation software called VISSIM.
Future major race events at the motorsport park are predicted to attract up to 20,000 spectators. In order to ensure efficient arrival and departure of spectators, comprehensive traffic management strategies have been proposed, with the primary aim of causing minimal disruption to the flow of traffic on surrounding local roads and state highways. BBO used VISSIM to assess the peak arrival of spectator vehicles including travel time delays, queuing, and the most efficient temporary lane configurations to minimise lane changes and weaving in traffic management strategies.
The primary review task was to investigate the worst-case traffic effects of the motorsport park on the diamond interchange intersection of SH1 and Hampton Downs Road. VISSIM micro-simulation was a fundamental tool for BBO in this review to ensure the effects were considered, addressed, and appropriate solutions identified in sufficient detail.
The worst-case scenario was identified as the morning peak spectator arrival period to a major race event, attracting up to 20,000 spectators, with a break down of a spectator vehicle in the queue on the Hampton Downs over-bridge. Under traffic management for this event, the Hampton Downs over-bridge is to operate as 3 lanes to accommodate the predicted peak hour arrival flows. Using VISSIM, BBO were able to successfully assess and visually demonstrate the delay, queue growth and dissipation, and lane change effects caused by the broken down vehicle to the hearing committee.
Samples of this Vehicle Break Down scenario is shown at right. Please click on images to zoom.