Evaluating the Impact of a New Ring Road on Urban Traffic in a Mountainous City: Amasya, Turkey

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 4 Sayı: 2, 1 - 18, 31.12.2025

Serkan Biçici

https://doi.org/10.55205/joctensa.4120251810081

https://izlik.org/JA94RL59LL

Öz

The road network in the city center is a critical element, not only for ensuring a comfortable and healthy lifestyle but also for fostering economic development. Therefore, road networks must meet standards of effectiveness, speed, comfort, and safety. However, achieving these standards can be challenging for some cities, such as Amasya. Amasya, a historically small city in Turkey, faces limitations in expanding road capacity or constructing new roads due to its geographical conditions. Instead, a ring road has been constructed around Amasya's city center to alleviate traffic congestion. This study investigates the impact of the newly opened ring road on urban traffic in Amasya. Manual traffic data for 26 links in Amasya's city center were collected over 11 hours (from 7 AM to 6 PM) before and after the ring road was opened. Under three different assumptions, 1-hour traffic flows for these links were estimated, and subsequent comparisons were made between traffic data obtained at two different times. The findings indicate a decrease in traffic for 92% of the links after the ring road's opening, with more than a 20% reduction observed in 35% of the roads. Statistical support for this decrease is provided by the paired t-test at a 95% confidence level. Additionally, taking into account seven pollutants, including Carbon Monoxide (CO), Hydrocarbons (HC), Nitric Oxide (NOx), Particulate Matter (PM), and Sulfur Oxide (SOx), a 6.6% reduction in traffic-related air pollution was found following the opening of the ring road.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Ring road , Traffic policy , Transportation management , Infrastructure design , Traffic impact assessment

Etik Beyan

Ethics committee approval is not required for the study.

Destekleyen Kurum

No funding has been receieved.

Teşekkür

The author would like to thank the Amasya branch of the General Directorate of Highways, especially Mr. Ismet Tuzin, for allowing me to collect the data manually without causing any disruption to traffic or harm to the environment. In addition, special thanks are extended to Gizem Baş and Gökhan Baş for their valuable support in the data collection process.

Dağlık Bir Kentte Yeni Yapılan Bir çevre Yolunun Kentsel Trafik Üzerindeki Etkisinin Değerlendirilmesi: Amasya, Türkiye

https://izlik.org/JA94RL59LL

Öz

Şehir merkezindeki yol ağı, yalnızca konforlu ve sağlıklı bir yaşam tarzı sağlamak için değil, aynı zamanda ekonomik kalkınmayı teşvik etmek için de kritik bir unsurdur. Bu nedenle yol ağlarının etkinlik, hız, konfor ve güvenlik standartlarını karşılaması gerekir. Ancak bu standartlara ulaşmak Amasya gibi bazı şehirler için zorlayıcı olabilir. Türkiye'de tarihsel olarak küçük bir şehir olan Amasya, coğrafi koşulları nedeniyle yol kapasitesini genişletme veya yeni yollar inşa etme konusunda sınırlamalarla karşı karşıyadır. Bunun yerine, trafik sıkışıklığını hafifletmek için Amasya'nın şehir merkezi etrafında bir çevre yolu inşa edilmiştir. Bu çalışma, yeni açılan çevre yolunun Amasya'daki şehir içi trafiği üzerindeki etkisini araştırmaktadır. Amasya şehir merkezindeki 26 yol için manuel trafik verileri, çevre yolu açılmadan önce ve açıldıktan sonra 11 saat boyunca (sabah 7'den akşam 6'ya kadar) toplanmıştır. Üç farklı varsayım altında, bu bağlantılar için 1 saatlik trafik akışları tahmin edilmiş ve ardından iki farklı zamanda elde edilen trafik verileri arasında karşılaştırmalar yapılmıştır. Bulgular, çevre yolunun açılmasından sonra bağlantıların %92'sinde trafikte bir azalma olduğunu ve yolların %35'inde %20'den fazla bir azalma gözlemlendiğini göstermektedir. Bu düşüş için istatistiksel destek, %95 güven düzeyinde eşleştirilmiş t-testi ile sağlanmıştır. Ayrıca, Karbon Monoksit (CO), Hidrokarbonlar (HC), Nitrik Oksit (NOx), Partikül Madde (PM) ve Sülfür Oksit (SOx) dâhil olmak üzere yedi kirletici dikkate alındığında, çevre yolunun açılmasının ardından trafik kaynaklı hava kirliliğinde %6,6'lık bir azalma tespit edilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Çevre yolu , Trafik politikası , Trafik yönetimi , Altyapi tasarimi , Trafik etki değerlendirmesi

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