The invention discloses an urban road network optimization method under optimal reachability. The method includes the following steps that: a research area is defined, road network geographic information in the research area is obtained, wherein the road network geographic information contains road grade, road length, design vehicle speed and road network connection condition; based on the complex network theory, an urban topological network is constructed, a node importance calculation method is put forward, the importance degree of each node is calculated; the node importance is introduced into a reachability calculation method, and the reachability value of the urban road network is calculated; and with the optimal accessibility adopted as an objective function, a road network optimization model is established, a genetic algorithm is selected to solve the optimization model, and an optimized layout decision is provided on the basis of an existing road network, so that a decision can be provided for the selection of an optimal scheme for road network reorganization and expansion. With the method of the invention adopted, on the one hand, the intensity of the connection between traffic communities in a city can be reflected, on the other hand, the optimization model is established with the optimal accessibility as the objective function, a decision can be provided for urban road network layout optimization, and therefore, road network resources can be rationally allocated, and operation efficiency of urban traffic can be improved.