Road junction merging structure and merging control system

Abstract

A road junction merging structure and a merging control system. The structure comprises a trunk road (1), an entrance ramp (2), and an exit ramp (3); the trunk road (1) is provided with a plurality of lanes, an exit taper (11) and an entrance taper (12) are sequentially formed on the outermost lane of the trunk road (1) in a driving direction, and a buffer zone (13) is arranged in the zone between the exit taper (11) and the entrance taper (12) of the outermost lane of the trunk road (1), so that the outermost lane between the exit taper (11) and the entrance taper (12) of the trunk road (1) is a non-accessible buffer lane; the exit taper (11) is connected to the exit ramp (3), and the entrance taper (12) is connected to the entrance ramp (2); a merging segment is arranged ahead of the entrance taper (12); a merging segment is arranged behind the exit taper (11). The system comprises the structure, an electronic lane change line, a lane change line regulation and control structure, a monitoring device, and a controller.

Description

Road intersection confluence structure and confluence control system Technical Field

[0001] One or more embodiments of this specification relate to the field of road traffic technology, and in particular to a road intersection merging structure and a merging control system that can achieve vehicle flow separation and regulation using physical structures. Background Art

[0002] When vehicles on a branch road (or ramp) merge into the main road at a certain angle, there is a road section where the main road and branch road (or ramp) traffic flow merge.

[0003] When traffic is heavy, due to the speed difference between high-speed main road vehicles and low-speed branch road vehicles, traffic congestion occurs in the road section where traffic flows merge. To alleviate traffic congestion, there are usually two existing solutions: one method is to set up traffic lights at the intersection where the ramp merges into the main road, and use traffic lights to regulate the incoming traffic flow; the other method is to limit the speed of vehicles on the merging section in order to achieve orderly merging through speed control. Both of the above methods use traffic rules to alleviate traffic congestion without changing the road structure. Although they can alleviate traffic congestion under a certain traffic flow, when the traffic flow is large enough (especially during peak travel periods), the aforementioned flow and speed restrictions cannot be effectively implemented and may not effectively or effectively alleviate traffic congestion.

[0004] From the perspective of fluid mechanics, traffic flow is essentially a special fluid system with typical fluid properties such as density, velocity, and pressure. When high-speed and low-speed flows are forced to converge, a phenomenon similar to fluid turbulence occurs, causing a sharp drop in system efficiency. Traditional traffic management methods attempt to intervene in this physical process through external rules, but fail to resolve the inherent conflicts arising from the fluid mechanics level. In the engineering field, the fluid pressure and flow in the pipeline are usually regulated by a combination of throttle valves and pressure relief valves. This automatic adjustment mechanism based on physical structure provides new ideas and inspiration for the traffic system.

[0005] To address the traffic congestion caused by existing road structures at converging areas, some proposals call for rebuilding the entire road structure, encompassing all converging sections. However, this reconstruction requires significant manpower and financial resources, making it difficult and costly to implement. Therefore, a new converging solution that can effectively alleviate traffic congestion is urgently needed. This solution should achieve more efficient traffic separation and control without significantly increasing costs, and adapt to the traffic needs of high-volume traffic conditions. Summary of the Invention

[0006] One or more embodiments of this specification describe a road intersection confluence structure and confluence control system. Through a specific physical structure, this specification forms a traffic flow field control system that conforms to the principles of fluid mechanics in the intersection area. With the help of physical isolation measures, high-speed and low-speed traffic flows are naturally divided, so that on-ramp vehicles can smoothly accelerate to the main road speed without direct interference. In addition, the off-ramp configured at the upstream position of the isolation area can play a role similar to a 'pressure relief valve', providing a quick exit channel for main road vehicles that have difficulty in merging smoothly. Based on this, the present invention realizes the automatic adjustment and optimal maintenance of traffic density and speed distribution without relying on too many external management means.

[0007] In the first aspect, an embodiment of the present specification provides a road intersection confluence structure, including a main road, an on-ramp, and an off-ramp; the main road is provided with several lanes, and the outermost lane of the main road is provided with an exit connector and an on-ramp in sequence along the driving direction, and the outermost lane of the main road is provided with an isolation area between the exit connector and the on-ramp, so that the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connector and the on-ramp is an inaccessible isolation lane; the exit connector is used to connect to the off-ramp, and the on-ramp is used to connect to the on-ramp; the main road connected to the on-ramp is provided with a merging section in front of the on-ramp; the main road connected to the off-ramp is provided with a merging section behind the exit connector.

[0008] In some embodiments, the entrance connection port of the on-ramp and the exit connection port of the off-ramp are both located in the same road section area; the on-ramp and the off-ramp are spatially staggered; or, the on-ramp and the off-ramp are spatially non-staggered.

[0009] In some embodiments, the number of lanes of the main road in front of the entrance is greater than or equal to the number of lanes of the main road behind the exit.

[0010] In some embodiments, the length of the isolation area near the outer edge of the outermost lane is equal to the length of the road between the exit connection and the entrance connection, and the length of the area near the inner edge of the outermost lane is greater than or equal to the length of the road between the exit connection and the entrance connection.

[0011] In some embodiments, the isolation area is surrounded by electronic robots.

[0012] In some embodiments, an exit auxiliary lane connected to the exit ramp is provided on the side of the outermost lane of the main road, behind the exit connection; an entry auxiliary lane connected to the entrance ramp is provided on the side of the outermost lane of the main road, in front of the entrance connection.

[0013] In some embodiments, the road intersection merging structure is a highway, expressway or tunnel intersection merging structure.

[0014] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present specification provides a road intersection merging control system, comprising a road intersection merging structure as described in the first aspect, an electronic lane changing line arranged between the outermost lane of the main road and the adjacent lane, a lane changing line control structure, a monitoring device and a controller arranged on the main road; the monitoring device is used to monitor the traffic volume and speed of the main road; the controller controls the lane changing line control structure to control the electronic lane changing line to be partially solid and partially dotted according to the traffic volume and speed of the main road, so that the outermost lane of the main road is divided into a non-changeable lane area and a changeable lane area within a certain distance from the exit.

[0015] In some embodiments, the electronic lane change line is formed by a plurality of light emitting devices arranged along the lane line direction; the lane change line control structure is a control device that controls the light emitting devices to emit light in solid or dotted lines.

[0016] In some embodiments, the outermost lane of the main road is provided with a light warning strip in the non-changeable lane area and the changeable lane area.

[0017] In some embodiments, the isolation area is formed by an electronic robot; the controller also controls the electronic robot to form an isolation area on the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection port and the entrance connection port according to the traffic volume and speed of the main road, so that the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection port and the entrance connection port is impassable, or controls the electronic robot to release the isolation state, so that the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection port and the entrance connection port is passable.

[0018] The beneficial effects of the technical solutions provided by some embodiments of this specification include at least:

[0019] In one or more embodiments of this specification, the road intersection converging structure is simple and can be implemented through local improvements based on existing road structures, making it easy to implement. Specifically, the entrance and exit ramps of this structure are located on the side of the outermost lanes of the main road. An isolation area is provided at the outermost lanes of the main road between the entrance and exit connections, making the outermost lanes of the main road between the entrance and exit connections isolated by the isolation area and impassable. An exit ramp is provided behind the isolation area, and an entrance ramp is provided in front of the isolation area. By merging into the ramp, vehicles can enter the off-ramp quickly from the outermost lane, and even vehicles that do not have time to merge will not stop there, thus avoiding the spread of congestion caused by a small number of vehicles in the outermost lane that have failed to merge. Vehicles merging into the ramp use the outermost lane of the main road. Since the isolation area is set directly behind the main road entrance, the merging section will not be disturbed by the high-speed traffic on the main road behind, and can merge into the main road smoothly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this specification, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this specification. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0021] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of a road intersection converging structure provided by an embodiment of this specification;

[0022] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of another road intersection converging structure provided in an embodiment of this specification;

[0023] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of another road intersection converging structure provided in an embodiment of this specification;

[0024] Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of the structure of the existing merging of urban expressways;

[0025] Figure 4b is a schematic diagram of the existing structure of the urban expressway outlet;

[0026] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a road structure having a converging structure of two road intersections, where the arrow direction is the driving direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The technical solutions in the embodiments of this specification will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of this specification.

[0028] The terms "first," "second," "third," etc. in the description and claims of this specification and the accompanying drawings are used to distinguish different objects rather than to describe a specific order. In addition, the terms "including," "having," and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

[0029] When vehicles on a branch road (or ramp) merge into the main road at a certain angle, there are sections where the main road and branch road (or ramp) traffic merge. During this merging process, the speed difference between branch road vehicles and main road vehicles often leads to congestion at the merging point. This problem is particularly serious on highways, expressways, and tunnels.

[0030] Because vehicles on main arterial roads of highways, expressways, and tunnels travel at high speeds, vehicles merging from surface roads or other ramps of highways, expressways, and tunnels travel at slower speeds. Current road standard designs address this speed difference between mainline and merging vehicles by providing parallel acceleration lanes 10 (see Figure 4a). However, as traffic density in merging areas increases, the length bottleneck of the speed change lanes rapidly increases the probability of accelerated merging failures, resulting in slowdowns caused by traffic stopping and waiting, and ultimately, widespread congestion.

[0031] In densely populated cities, traffic lights are currently used to restrict incoming traffic for a certain period of time, or speed limits are used to control the orderly flow of traffic. However, these restrictive measures only delay congestion periods or shift congestion areas. Once traffic volume reaches a certain level, these restrictive measures become ineffective and traffic congestion remains unresolved.

[0032] Furthermore, large cities facing traffic congestion are undergoing road widening. While this adds numerous lanes, real-time evidence suggests that even eight lanes in both directions fail to alleviate congestion during peak hours. Furthermore, the Brecher paradox demonstrates that increasing the total capacity of a road network can actually lead to increased congestion.

[0033] Based on this, the embodiments of this specification propose a road intersection merging structure, which can alleviate and solve the traffic congestion problem existing in the prior art from the perspective of diversion.

[0034] FIG1 shows a road intersection merging structure according to one embodiment.

[0035] As shown in Figure 1, the structure of the embodiment of this specification includes a main road 1, an on-ramp 2, and an off-ramp 3. The main road 1 is provided with several lanes. The outermost lane of the main road 1 has an exit connector 11 and an on-ramp 12, which are arranged in sequence along the driving direction X. The outermost lane of the main road is provided with an isolation area 13 between the exit connector and the on-ramp, making the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connector and the on-ramp an impassable isolated lane. The exit connector 11 is used to connect to the off-ramp 3, and the on-ramp 12 is used to connect to the on-ramp 2.

[0036] The main road has at least two lanes, and the maximum number of lanes can be determined according to the actual application environment.

[0037] Taking Figure 1 as an example, the main road has three lanes, the rightmost lane is the outermost lane, the leftmost lane is the innermost lane, and the second lane is the middle lane. The exit connection 11 is set at the outermost lane of the main road 1 behind the driving direction, and is set on the side of the outermost lane. The entrance connection 12 is set at the outermost lane of the main road 1 in front of the driving direction, and is set on the side of the outermost lane. The outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection 11 and the entrance connection 12 is not passable because of the isolation area. That is to say, before the vehicle passes through the exit connection 11, the main road has three lanes, after passing the exit connection 11 and before passing the entrance connection 12, the main road has two lanes, and after passing the entrance connection 12, the main road has three lanes.

[0038] The main road 1 connected to the on-ramp 2 is provided with a merging section F in front of the on-ramp 11. The main road 1 connected to the off-ramp 3 is provided with a merging section H behind the off-ramp 11. When vehicles that have been traveling in the outermost lane of the main road 1 or vehicles traveling in other lanes of the main road 1 are about to merge, the merging vehicles enter the off-ramp 3 through the outermost lane of the main road 1. When vehicles that have been traveling in the outermost lane of the main road 1 or vehicles traveling in other lanes of the main road 1 are about to continue traveling on the main road, vehicles that do not merge can change lanes from the outermost lane of the main road to other lanes through the merging section H and continue traveling. With this design, part of the traffic flow on the main road can be pre-diverted through the off-ramp 3 before the on-ramp vehicles merge in, so as to reduce the traffic flow on the main road in advance before the on-ramp 2 vehicles merge in, and at the same time avoid the spread of congestion caused by a small number of vehicles that fail to merge and stop in the merging section H. Because the isolation area 13 behind the merging section F orderly separates the merging traffic flow from the main road traffic flow, the two traffic flows can travel quickly and effectively without interfering with each other, making it easier for the merging traffic flow to accelerate to the design speed of the main road without hindrance, ultimately avoiding the traffic turbulence area caused by traditional merging structures.

[0039] The technical solution adopted in this manual is based on the following fluid mechanics principles:

[0040] 1. Speed ​​difference conflict elimination mechanism

[0041] Physical facilities in isolated areas completely separate high- and low-speed flows, preventing turbulence caused by forced convergence. Similar to the use of deflectors in fluid pipelines to separate fluids of different velocities, this mechanism ensures laminar flow in the system, preventing high-speed (mainline) and low-speed (immediately converging) fluids from directly converging within the same "pipeline section," significantly reducing turbulence and significantly improving flow efficiency.

[0042] 2. Density balance mechanism

[0043] The system automatically adjusts traffic flow distribution through its physical structure to maintain optimal traffic flow density. When traffic density approaches a critical value, it automatically diverts some vehicles through the exit ramp, similar to the throttle valve in a fluid system, ensuring that traffic on the main road remains in optimal operating conditions.

[0044] 3. Pressure relief and diversion mechanism

[0045] The off-ramp design draws on the principle of a pressure relief valve in fluid engineering. It automatically initiates traffic diversion when system pressure (traffic density) reaches a critical value, acting like a "pressure relief valve" under high-load conditions. When vehicles that fail to merge onto the main road are unable to enter, they can choose to "exit" through the off-ramp, preventing them from being stranded in the outermost lanes of the main road and creating a new source of congestion.

[0046] In the embodiments of this specification, the merging section refers to a road section located a certain distance behind the exit (defined in the direction of travel) and used to merge vehicles that do not exit the exit ramp into the inner lane. The actual length of the merging section can be determined based on the road design standards and local traffic data, for example, 300 meters, 350 meters, or 400 meters.

[0047] To facilitate merging at the merging section, dashed lines are used between the merging lane and the adjacent inner lane. Solid lines are used between adjacent lanes at a distance between the merging section and the exit. Vehicles change lanes along the dashed lines at the merging section. Beyond the merging section and before the exit, vehicles cannot change lanes along the solid lines and must proceed to the exit ramp in their current lane. The dashed line length can be set based on the merging section distance, while the solid line length is based on the road design standards for the section, for example, 50 to 100 meters.

[0048] In the embodiments of this specification, the merging section refers to the road section located in front of the entrance. This section is used for vehicles entering the main road from the on-ramp. This merging section is only for merging vehicles. The actual length of the merging section can be determined based on current traffic settings, for example, 200 meters, 250 meters, 300 meters, etc. After the vehicle exits the merging section, it can change lanes according to the driving rules of the highway, expressway, or tunnel road.

[0049] The embodiments of this specification are not limited to the lane structure shown in FIG. 1 .

[0050] For example, the number of lanes in the isolated lane is not limited to one. It can also be two or more lanes, but the number of lanes on the main road before the exit and after the entrance must be greater than the number of lanes on the main road between the exit and entrance.

[0051] For another example, the number of lanes on the main road before the exit connection and the number of lanes on the main road after the entrance connection can be equal (as shown in the example in Figure 1), or the number of lanes on the main road before the exit connection can be greater than the number of lanes on the main road after the entrance connection, or the number of lanes on the main road before the exit connection can be less than the number of lanes on the main road after the entrance connection. In other words, the number of lanes on the main road in front of the entrance connection may be equal to or not equal to the number of lanes on the main road behind the exit connection. Preferably, the number of lanes on the main road in front of the entrance connection is greater than or equal to the number of lanes on the main road behind the exit connection. In this way, when vehicles merge into the main road from the entrance ramp, they can merge quickly and efficiently.

[0052] For another example, the number of lanes of the on-ramp and the off-ramp can be one or more, and can be set according to actual application needs. When the exit connector is set at the outermost lane, the corresponding number of lanes of the off-ramp is one; when the exit connector is set at the outermost two lanes, the corresponding number of lanes of the off-ramp is two. Similarly, when the entrance connector is set at the outermost lane, the corresponding number of lanes of the on-ramp is one; when the entrance connector is set at the outermost two lanes, the corresponding number of lanes of the on-ramp is two. In other words, the number of lanes of the ramp is equal to the number of lanes of the main road spanned by the corresponding connector.

[0053] For another example, the on-ramp or the off-ramp may be a ramp where another expressway, highway, tunnel road, or ground road connects to the current expressway, highway, or tunnel road.

[0054] The entrance connector of the on-ramp and the exit connector of the off-ramp are both located within the same road section area. In other words, the entrance connector and the exit connector are located nearby and do not exceed the scope of the same road section area. In theory, the shorter the distance between the entrance connector and the exit connector, the better. In practice, the appropriate distance is determined based on the difficulty of construction. For example, assuming the road width is 3.75 meters, when the entrance ramp and the exit ramp are located close to each other, the distance between the entrance connector and the exit connector is slightly greater than 7.5 meters (not considering the width of the curb strip, etc.). When the entrance ramp and the exit ramp are located at a certain distance, the distance between the entrance ramp and the exit ramp is greater than 7.5 meters and does not exceed the same road section (for example, the area of ​​the same road section is about 1 kilometer). The same road section area refers to the area between two adjacent basic sections on the main road. The basic section refers to the section of the road that is not affected by the converging, diverging, weaving, or crossing of the ramp interchange and its surrounding areas.

[0055] In one embodiment, the on-ramp and the off-ramp may be arranged in a spatially staggered structure as shown in FIG1 , with the off-ramp 3 located below the on-ramp 2 , but the present invention is not limited to the above spatial position, and the off-ramp may also be located above the on-ramp.

[0056] In another embodiment, the on-ramp and off-ramp may not be spatially staggered. For example, the two ramps may be spatially parallel to each other (as shown in Figure 2). In another example, the off-ramp may be arranged in the opposite direction of travel toward the main road, while the on-ramp may be arranged in the direction of travel toward the main road, with the two ramps spaced apart.

[0057] The isolation zone is created by manually placing physical objects (such as fences, green belts, medians, etc.) on the main road, enclosing a portion of the outermost lane of the main road; or by manually marking and drawing lines; or by electronic robots, which enclose a portion of the outermost lane of the main road under control commands. When the first two methods are used, removing the isolation requires manual intervention to remove the physical objects, change their placement, or change the markings. When electronic robots are used, removing the isolation can be done by changing the position of the electronic robots under control commands, thus removing the isolation zone and restoring traffic.

[0058] The isolation area can take various forms. It can be a frame-shaped area or a ring-shaped area. In a first embodiment, the length of the isolation area near the outer edge of the outermost lane is equal to the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors, and the length of the area near the inner edge of the outermost lane is equal to the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors. Taking the frame-shaped area as an example, the area near the outer edge of the outermost lane is the first side, the area near the inner edge of the outermost lane is the second side, the area connecting one end of the first side with one end of the opposite second side is the third side, and the area connecting the other end of the first side with the other end of the opposite second side is the fourth side. The length of the first side = the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors = the length of the second side. When the first side and the second side are parallel and aligned, the isolation area is a rectangle. When the first side and the second side are parallel but not aligned, the isolation area is a parallelogram. Furthermore, the first side and the second side do not need to be parallel or aligned, as long as isolation is achieved.

[0059] In the second embodiment, the length of the isolation area near the outermost lane's outer edge is equal to the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors, and the length of the innermost lane's inner edge is greater than the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors. Taking a frame-shaped area as an example, the length of the first side = the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors < the length of the second side. When the first and second sides are parallel and symmetrical about a perpendicular line at their center points, the isolation area is a trapezoid. Furthermore, the first and second sides can be parallel and not symmetrical about a perpendicular line at their center points, or they can be neither parallel nor symmetrical about a perpendicular line at their center points, as long as isolation is achieved.

[0060] In the third embodiment, the length of the isolation area near the outermost lane's outer edge is equal to the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors, and the length of the innermost lane's inner edge is less than the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors. Taking a frame-shaped area as an example, the length of the first side = the length of the road between the exit and entrance connectors > the length of the second side. When the first and second sides are parallel and symmetrical about a perpendicular line at their center points, the isolation area is a trapezoid. Furthermore, the first and second sides can be parallel and not symmetrical about a perpendicular line at their center points, or they can be neither parallel nor symmetrical about a perpendicular line at their center points, as long as isolation is achieved.

[0061] Regardless of which of the above implementations, when the isolation area is a circular area, that is, based on the frame-shaped area, the shape of the edge can be partially or completely arc-shaped.

[0062] In order to avoid as much as possible the situation where vehicles stop at the confluence exit due to lack of time to merge, resulting in vehicles stopping and waiting, which causes congestion to spread. The preferred solution is that when the second embodiment is adopted, the preferred isolation area is a trapezoid, and the third side of the trapezoid is set in the direction of the extension line of the inner road edge of the entrance ramp (or exit ramp), and the fourth side of the trapezoid is set in the direction of the extension line of the inner road edge of the exit ramp (or entrance ramp). The outer side and inner side of the road mentioned in the embodiments of this specification are based on the driving direction of Chinese roads. The right side of the road is defined as the outer side, and the left side of the road is defined as the inner side. For countries and regions with driving rules opposite to those of China (such as the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, etc.), since vehicles drive on the left, the definitions of the above-mentioned outer side and inner side can be swapped accordingly (that is, the left side is the outer side and the right side is the inner side). The less preferred solution is that when the first embodiment is adopted, the preferred isolation area is a rectangle.

[0063] To facilitate quick merging onto or out of the main road, in some embodiments, an auxiliary exit lane connected to the off-ramp is located behind the exit connection, next to the outermost lane of the main road. An auxiliary entrance lane connected to the on-ramp is located in front of the entrance connection, next to the outermost lane of the main road. Auxiliary lanes may be used for speed change lanes, gathering and distribution lanes, emergency lanes, and other purposes.

[0064] A diversion area may also be provided on the on-ramp or off-ramp, and the diversion area is used to set up an emergency lane or a safety lane.

[0065] FIG3 shows a road intersection merging structure in another embodiment.

[0066] The difference between the example in FIG3 and the example in FIG1 is that the structure further includes an electronic lane change line 4 and a lane change line control structure.

[0067] Next, the differences are described in detail. The rest of the parts are the same as in Example 1 and will not be further elaborated.

[0068] In one embodiment, the electronic lane change line 4 is formed by a plurality of light emitting devices arranged along the lane line direction. The lane change line control structure can be configured to control the light emitting devices to emit light so that the electronic lane change line is partially solid and partially dotted. The outermost lane of the main road is divided into an immutable lane area (i.e., the area where the solid line is located) and a variable lane area (i.e., the area where the dotted line is located) within a certain distance from the exit. For example, the lengths of the solid and dotted lines are predetermined, the light emitting devices are densely arranged at the solid line, and the light emitting devices are spaced apart at the dotted line. The light emitting devices are controlled to turn on or off using the lane change line control structure. For another example, the entire electronic lane change line is densely arranged with light emitting devices. According to the traffic flow, the number of adjacent light emitting devices turned on and the number of spaced light emitting devices turned on are adjusted to adjust the lengths of the solid and dotted lines.

[0069] Regardless of the examples in Figures 1, 2, and 3, when prompting the driver whether to enter the off-ramp, a road sign is set up on the main road before entering the off-ramp. Alternatively, a light prompt strip is set up in the outermost lane of the main road in the non-changeable lane area and the changeable lane area to provide a prompt.

[0070] For example, a single-colored light strip could be installed on the road surface of the outermost lane to indicate whether the driver is entering the exit ramp and, if not, whether they need to change lanes. Another example could be a two- or three-colored light strip installed on the road surface of the outermost lane, using different colors to indicate the distance from the exit. When two colors are used, the different colored light strips indicate that the lane can be changed at a certain distance from the exit, while the lane cannot be changed at a relatively close distance. When three colors are used, the different colored light strips indicate that the lane can be changed at a certain distance X1 from the exit, at a relatively close distance X2 from the exit, while the lane cannot be changed at a relatively close distance. X3 < X2 < X1. As shown in Figure 3, the light strips are divided into a first light strip 5 located in the non-changeable lane area, a second light strip 6 located in the changeable lane area, and a third light strip 7 located in the changeable lane area. The first, second, and third light strips are used to indicate different distances from the main road to the exit. These colors can be green, yellow, or red, which are commonly used in traffic signals. For example, the first light prompt band is a red prompt band, the second light prompt band is a yellow prompt band, and the third light prompt band is a green prompt band.

[0071] The structure of the embodiment of this specification can be realized by partial reconstruction based on an existing highway, tunnel road or expressway. Specifically, the confluence structure in Figures 1 and 2 is a unit module, and the module is realized according to the structure of the embodiment of this specification. An access point connected to the entrance and exit ramp is set on the side of the outermost lane on the existing main road, and the outermost lane between the entrance and exit is set as an impassable area through an isolation area to form the structure of the embodiment of this specification. Figure 5 is a road with two confluence structures. In actual application, multiple confluence structures can be designed on the road, not limited to the number shown in the figure. Two adjacent confluence structures are connected by a main road.

[0072] Taking an urban expressway with a designed speed limit of 80 km / h as an example, road scenario simulations were conducted using the traffic simulation software Vissim 2024 to examine the pre- and post-improvement structures. Figures 4a and 4b illustrate the pre-improvement three-lane structure. The horizontal road serves as the main arterial road, while the side roads leading in or out are on-ramps or off-ramps. The lane connecting the on-ramps or off-ramps to the main arterial road is a speed change lane, which is parallel to the main lane (i.e., a parallel speed change lane). The lane connecting on-ramp 2 and main road 1 is acceleration lane 10, while the lane connecting main road 1 and off-ramp 3 is deceleration lane 20. Vehicles entering the main road on on-ramp 2 accelerate in acceleration lane 10 and merge onto main road 1 at an opportune moment. Vehicles leaving the main road on main road 1 decelerate in deceleration lane 20, allowing them to smoothly and safely enter off-ramp 3. Under this structural design, the vehicles traveling in the outermost lane of the main road in front of the merging entrance include both vehicles continuing to travel forward and merging in. The vehicles traveling in the outermost lane of the main road behind the merging entrance include both vehicles continuing to travel forward and merging out. Simulation results show that the improved structure is more effective in alleviating traffic congestion than the original structure in terms of average delay, average number of stops, and average speed (see Table 1 below).

[0073] Table 1 Comparison of the effects of road intersection merging structures before and after improvement

[0074]

[0075] Verification by the VISSIM 2024 traffic simulation system shows that the technical solution of the present invention exhibits significant technical effects under different working conditions:

[0076] 1. Three-lane main road conditions:

[0077] During off-peak hours: average delay time decreased from 41.26 seconds to 1.68 seconds, and average vehicle speed increased from 29.4 km / h to 73.39 km / h;

[0078] During peak hours, the average delay time was reduced from 75.72 seconds to 8.48 seconds, and the average vehicle speed increased from 17.65 km / h to 59.87 km / h.

[0079] 2. Two-lane main road conditions:

[0080] During off-peak hours: average delay time decreased from 55.19 seconds to 1.31 seconds, and average vehicle speed increased from 23.23 km / h to 76.6 km / h;

[0081] During peak hours, the average delay time dropped from 101.21 seconds to 9.72 seconds, and the average vehicle speed increased from 12.47 km / h to 61.18 km / h.

[0082] Of particular note is the 31.56% main road merge release rate observed during peak traffic conditions on two-lane roads, confirming the effectiveness of the system's pressure relief and diversion mechanism. This data is highly consistent with the operating characteristics of the pressure relief valve in the fluid system, confirming the physical mechanism of the technical solution of the present invention.

[0083] According to the requirements for traffic capacity and service levels in the "Urban Road Engineering Design Code", the basic sections of newly built expressways should be designed according to the third-level service level (see Table 2). Taking an expressway with a design speed of 80 km / h as an example, the simulation results in Table 1 are compared:

[0084] Table 2 Service level classification of basic sections of expressways

[0085]

[0086] In the simulation data, the traffic flow during off-peak period reaches the maximum service traffic volume of the second-level service level, and the traffic flow during peak period reaches the maximum service traffic volume of the third-level service level.

[0087] Comparing average speeds reveals that under the current road design, average speeds for two-lane and three-lane trunk roads drop rapidly when reaching the maximum service volume for the second / third service level of the basic section, far below the corresponding service level requirements. This imbalance in service levels between the basic section and the merging and diverging areas leads to congestion nodes. The simulation results are consistent with the actual congestion on urban expressways in large and medium-sized cities.

[0088] With the patented transformation design of the merging and diverging areas, the second and third lanes of the main road fully meet the requirements of the second and third level service levels, and can even meet the requirements of the first level service level during off-peak periods.

[0089] According to the data comparison of the number of stops, the current average of 8.81 to 16.76 stop delays on roads causes vehicles to pause in a pulsed manner, making it impossible to form a stable free traffic flow and causing congested queues; while the patented structure basically achieves zero stops and can effectively maintain a stable free traffic flow in the merging and diverging areas.

[0090] Comparing the final data, the patented road renovations showed average vehicle delays decreased by approximately 80-90%, while average traffic speeds increased by approximately 100-400%. Merging areas on arterial roads with two or three lanes or more fully meet the Level 3 service level for basic road sections, significantly reducing congestion in expressway merging areas.

[0091] This embodiment also provides a road intersection merging control system, comprising the aforementioned road intersection merging structure, an electronic lane change line between the outermost lane of the main road and the adjacent lane, a lane change line control structure provided on the main road, monitoring equipment provided on the main road, and a controller. The controller may be provided on the main road or at a remote monitoring terminal.

[0092] The monitoring device is used to monitor the traffic flow and speed of the main road. The monitoring device may include a speedometer and a traffic flow monitor. Based on the traffic flow and speed of the main road, the controller controls the lane change control structure to adjust the electronic lane change line to be partially solid and partially dashed, so that the outermost lane of the main road is divided into a non-changeable area and a changeable area within a certain distance from the lower connecting port. Specifically, the controller is configured with traffic flow and speed thresholds for both flat and peak times. The controller controls the length of the solid and dashed lines in the lane change line by determining the measured traffic flow and traffic flow thresholds, as well as the measured speed and speed thresholds. For example, the solid line length can be controlled by controlling the number of adjacent light emitting devices, while the dashed line length can be controlled by controlling the number of spaced light emitting devices. The specific length can be preset based on experience, with different numbers of light emitting devices activated for flat and peak times. Alternatively, a mathematical model can be used to determine the number of light emitting devices activated for different traffic flow and speed conditions. The mathematical model is trained based on historical data (including traffic flow, speed, solid line length, and dashed line length) with the goal of optimizing merging results. When obtaining real-time traffic flow and speed, mathematical models can be used to obtain more appropriate solid line lengths and dashed line lengths.

[0093] Furthermore, the outermost lane of the main road is provided with a light indicator strip in the non-changeable and changeable lanes. The controller also controls the light indicator strip to display different colors based on the control results of the lane change line to indicate the different distances between the main road and the lower connector. The control structure refers to the length of the solid and dashed lines.

[0094] Indicator lights are pre-arranged across the entire road in both fixed and variable lane areas to provide two or three colors of light. The length of the solid and dashed lines determines the illuminated area of ​​each light strip, and the corresponding light strips are controlled to illuminate in the color corresponding to that area.

[0095] When two colors are used, a first light prompt strip is set in the solid line area and a second light prompt strip is set in the dotted line area. The controller controls the first light prompt strip and the second light prompt strip to display different colors to indicate whether lane change is allowed within the area.

[0096] When three colors are used, as shown in Figure 3, the light prompt strips are divided into a first light prompt strip 5 located in the fixed lane area, a second light prompt strip 6 located in the variable lane area, and a third light prompt strip 7 located in the variable lane area. Since both the second and third light prompt strips are located in the variable lane area, the illuminated areas of the two prompt strips can be determined by a pre-set ratio of the number of illuminated rows.

[0097] Furthermore, the controller can determine whether to isolate the outermost lane between the entrance and exit based on the traffic volume and speed of the main road and on-ramp. For example, when the traffic volume on the main road and on-ramp is lower than during off-peak hours, the electronic robot can be controlled to release the isolation state, allowing traffic to pass through the outermost lane of the main road between the connector and the entrance. For example, when the traffic volume on the main road or on-ramp reaches the level of off-peak hours, the electronic robot can be controlled to restore the isolation state, making the outermost lane of the main road between the connector and the entrance inaccessible. For example, when an accident occurs on the main road, particularly at a merging section or its adjacent lanes, the controller can obtain traffic accident handling signals from cameras in monitoring equipment, or from traffic police regarding the road section, and control the electronic robot to release the isolation state or reduce the isolated area, allowing normal vehicles blocked by the accident to bypass the accident vehicle and exit the accident area. For example, when traffic volume reaches an extreme peak (meaning that the traffic volume upstream of the main road in the merge / divider area far exceeds the road's designed capacity), which usually occurs during large-scale events, concerts, and festivals, the controller determines whether to perform the extreme peak control process based on the traffic monitoring signal in the monitoring equipment, or initiates the extreme peak control process based on instructions from the traffic police, controls the electronic robot to release the isolation state, and closes the on-ramp. At the same time, it can confirm whether to close the connection between the exit and the off-ramp based on the congestion situation downstream of the off-ramp.

[0098] The embodiments described above are merely preferred embodiments of this specification and are not intended to limit the scope of this specification. Without departing from the design spirit of this specification, various modifications and improvements made to the technical solutions of this specification by ordinary technicians in this field should fall within the scope of protection determined by the claims of this specification.

Claims

1. A road intersection confluence structure, characterized in that, It includes a main road, an on-ramp and an off-ramp; the main road is provided with a plurality of lanes, the outermost lane of the main road is provided with an exit connector and an on-ramp in sequence along the driving direction, and the outermost lane of the main road is provided with an isolation area between the exit connector and the on-ramp, so that the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connector and the on-ramp is an inaccessible isolation lane; the exit connector is used to connect the off-ramp, and the on-ramp is used to connect the on-ramp; the main road connected with the on-ramp is set as a merging section in front of the on-ramp; the main road connected with the off-ramp is set as a merging section behind the exit connector.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein The entrance connection port of the on-ramp and the exit connection port of the off-ramp are both located in the same road section area; the on-ramp and the off-ramp are staggered in space; or the on-ramp and the off-ramp are non-staggered in space.

3. The structure according to claim 1, wherein The length of the isolation area near the outer edge of the outermost lane is equal to the road length between the exit connection and the entrance connection, and the length of the area near the inner edge of the outermost lane is greater than or equal to the road length between the exit connection and the entrance connection.

4. The structure according to claim 1, characterized in that, The isolation area is surrounded by electronic robots.

5. The structure according to claim 1, wherein An exit auxiliary lane connected to the exit ramp is provided on the side of the outermost lane of the main road and behind the exit connection; an entrance auxiliary lane connected to the entrance ramp is provided on the side of the outermost lane of the main road and in front of the entrance connection.

6. The structure according to claim 1, wherein The road intersection confluence structure is a highway, expressway or tunnel intersection confluence structure.

7. A road intersection confluence control system, characterized in that, It comprises the road intersection merging structure as claimed in claim 1, an electronic lane change line arranged between the outermost lane of the main road and the adjacent lane, a lane change line control structure, a monitoring device and a controller arranged on the main road; the monitoring device is used to monitor the traffic volume and speed of the main road; the controller controls the lane change line control structure to adjust the electronic lane change line to be partly a solid line and partly a dotted line according to the traffic volume and speed of the main road, so that the outermost lane of the main road is divided into a non-changeable lane area and a changeable lane area within a distance range from the exit.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein The electronic lane-changing line is formed by a plurality of light-emitting devices arranged along the lane line direction; the lane-changing line control structure is a control device that controls the light-emitting devices to emit light in the form of solid lines or dotted lines.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein The outermost lane of the main road is provided with a light warning strip in the non-changeable lane area and the changeable lane area.

10. The system according to claim 7, wherein The isolation area is surrounded by an electronic robot; the controller also controls the electronic robot to form an isolation area on the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection and the entrance connection according to the traffic volume and speed of the main road, so that the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection and the entrance connection is impassable, or controls the electronic robot to release the isolation state, so that the outermost lane of the main road between the exit connection and the entrance connection is passable.

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